Return of the Enigma
by Jess Rae
Summary: Nick’s niece Norah comes BACK to Vegas. Her ultimate goal is to start her life back up with her new job, but something from her past gets in her way. Meanwhile, Lydia and Nick try to make their new marriage last. Sequel to STORY OF AN ENIGMA.
1. The Reunion

TITLE: Return of the Enigma  
  
AUTHOR: Jess (Penname: Jessica-Rae Szmanda)  
  
GENRE: CSI  
  
SUMMARY: Nick's niece Norah comes BACK to Vegas. Her ultimate goal is to start her life back up with her new job, but something from her past gets in her way. Meanwhile, Lydia and Nick try to make their new marriage last. Sequel to STORY OF AN ENIGMA.  
  
MAIN CHARACTERS: Nick Stokes, Norah Stokes, Greg Sanders, Lydia Bennett, Warrick Brown, Owen Smith  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: My suggestion would be to read Story of an Enigma (STORY ID: 1184192) first, so you actually know what's going on. And reading my best friend's sibling story, The Truth behind the Paperdoll would help too. (STORY ID: 1351071) :) R&R.  
  
Chapter One:  
The Reunion  
  
It had been 228 days since she'd seen Greg, 599 days since she'd seen any member of her family, 1461 days since she'd seen Las Vegas. Greg had been to New York to visit her on the day before New Year's Eve, but left again New Year's day. Newly wed Nick and Lydia come for Christmas the year before last with Norah's new cousin Abigail, who was almost two-years-old at the time. But Norah herself had not left New York since she came there 4 years ago exactly that day.  
  
She hated New York. She hated wearing gloves in the winter. She hated it being charged 50¢ a minute to call Nick or Greg. She hated being 3 hours ahead of everyone on the western seaboard.  
  
She had took her packed suitcases and said a good-bye to her roommate, Phoebe, and left to catch a taxi. The taxi cab driver, whose name, she found out, was Stanley, took her to the airport. She thanked him and handed him the $4.84 through the sliding glass window that separated them. After giving up her bags and going through the metal detectors, she was on her way back to Nevada.  
  
She reviewed the four years at college as she settled into her seat. She remembered the memories of when her friends and family from Vegas had come to visit more than anything. Especially when Greg came to visit. Phoebe always asked about him after Norah got off the phone with him. She got a funny feeling in her stomach when she thought about him, it spread upward as her mouth curled into a smile. She couldn't wait to get back. She twirled the Promise Ring he had bought her around her finger and smiled.  
  
She had called him about twice a week. She wished she could have called more often but she knew he didn't have that much money for collect calls either.  
  
After about twenty minutes in the sky, Norah had fallen asleep. That, however, only lasted about a half-hour. She was too excited about seeing everyone again.  
  
She had slipped on her headphones and started listening to some rock band's CD she had borrowed from Greg a few months before she'd left for New York. It was the only CD she really liked from his collection; the other ones were too hard rock for her.  
  
Norah had disappeared into her own world until a stewardess dressed in a baby blue dress tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to take off her headphones because the plane was landing. She obeyed.  
  
When the pilot said it was safe for the passengers to exit the plane, Norah rushed off with her carry-on baggage. She ran through the gate and into the airport to find Lydia and Nick with Baby Abby and Greg. Abby had grown so much from when Norah last saw her. She was wearing a pink sundress with her hair in pigtails on top of her head and was jumping around and holding a sign that read 'NORAH,' both of which, were Lydia's doings.  
  
Norah slung her purple book bag over her shoulder and walked over to them. She was wearing green plaid pajama bottoms and a ratty T-shirt she got from playing baseball when she was in 7th grade. She knew how bad she got jet lag going to New York and figured she'd be sleeping for a couple of days after the trip and thought it would be easier if she just wore her pajamas there. Her hair was in pigtails which were low on her head and she wore a blue winter hat, even though it was August.  
  
They all looked so different. It's scary how much people can change in only four years. Nick looked like he hadn't shaved in a day, Lydia looked as if she hadn't slept in a day, and Greg looked like he had been scolded all day, which was probably all true.  
  
She jumped on Greg, hugging him tightly and wrapping her legs around him. Lydia and Nick smiled at each other. "I missed you so much," she almost whispered, her eyes closed.  
  
"I missed you more." He smiled, holding her close for a while until Nick cleared his throat.  
  
Norah jumped off of him and hugged Nick. "How are you?"  
  
"Good, good." Nick smiled.  
  
"Me too."  
  
After Abby and Lydia both greeted Norah they decided they'd treat her to some lunch.  
  
"It's up to Abby," Norah told the others, while looking at the toddler in her arms.  
  
"Pizza!" Abby shouted.  
  
Norah laughed. You could tell she was Nick's daughter. "Lydia! You feed your daughter pizza?" She gave a fake gasp, knowing how much of a heath- food freak Lydia was.  
  
Greg snickered.  
  
"Not me! Nick! Nick does!" Lydia tried to save herself.  
  
Nick held his head high and nodded proudly. "She loves pizza."  
  
Abby nodded with a wide smile on her face.  
  
"Me too, Abby, me too." Norah smiled at her cousin.  
  
After claiming Norah's bags they headed out to Greg's jeep and got in, Lydia, Nick and Abby in the back, Norah in the front seat with Greg in the driver's seat. He turned the key and started the engine. They drove to the nearest pizza place.  
  
Norah got extremely tired while she was there, the jet lag really setting in. Before they got out of the car, Norah was asleep, her head against the window. She snored softly.  
  
When Greg noticed she was asleep he suggested they just get it to go and eat it at Norah's place, while she slept. He hoped it wasn't too obvious he was really hungry.  
  
Greg parked and Nick got out of the car and went inside. Lydia was looking for some coupons for the pizza while Greg looked for a good radio station. And Abby, being the little 3-year-old she was, wiggled herself out of her car seat, which was transported from Nick's car to Greg's, and climbed up into the front seat. She sat in Norah's lap and started poking her and playing with her hair and eyelids. Lydia looked up when she heard her giggling.  
  
"Abigail Hope Stokes," she said firmly. "Let Norah sleep." She pulled Abby back into the back seat against her will as she pouted.  
  
About a half-hour later, Nick returned with the pizza. Greg was hand banging to some alternative rock song, Norah had opened her eyes a bit, but was still leaning lazily against the window, and Lydia had given up on the coupon and was now stroking a sleeping Abby's head.  
  
Nick got back into the car and Greg pulled away. He tried to avoid bumps because Norah was starting to fall asleep again. When they pulled into Norah's apartment complex parking lot, Greg pulled into an open spot and got out to help Norah out of the car and into the apartment. He opened the door carefully and gracefully scooped her up and shut the door with his butt.  
  
Lydia followed them.  
  
"Daddy! Do that to me!" Abby giggled, pointing to Greg who was holding Norah and struggling with the door.  
  
Nick picked her up by the feet and shut the door with his hip. "Like this, Abby?"  
  
The upside-down girl giggled more.  
  
He turned her right side up again and put her on his shoulders. Ducking at the doorways, he followed the other three inside and upstairs to Norah's second-floor apartment.  
  
Greg laid Norah on her bed after folding down the blankets. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead, leaving her to rest. He could smell the pepperoni pizza Lydia carried in through the thin walls of the apartment. He left his girlfriend rather quickly for the pizza that was sitting in the kitchen table.  
  
Abby, Lydia, and Nick had already started without him. Greg sat across from Lydia on the stool at the island. He watched her dab her pizza with a napkin to get the grease off. He rolled his eyes and devoured his first piece. Abby lifted the pizza above her head and opened her mouth. The piece was about twice the length of her little arm. Nick was picking off the pepperoni and eating it while his head was turned to watch a baseball game on the television that sat about six feet away from him in the living room.  
  
"Nick, cut up Abigail's pizza for her," Lydia said, her face twisted in a grimace as she threw the grease-filled napkin on the counter-top.  
  
Nick nodded without ungluing his eyes from the TV screen.  
  
"Nick!" Lydia shouted.  
  
"What?" He shouted back.  
  
"Are you listening to me?"  
  
They started to scream back and forth.  
  
Greg frowned and watched Abby struggle with her piece of pizza. "Come on Baby Abby, come into Cousin Norah's room with Uncle Greg." He picked up his plate with second and third pieces of pizza in one hand and grabbed a pizza sauce-stained Abby with the other. Greg carried both into his room and set Abby down next to Norah, who was now awake but could barely move her head.  
  
"You aren't my uncle!" Abby giggled.  
  
"Well, I am today. It's opposite day." Greg said, sitting next to Abby and looking at Norah. "How are you feeling, Nor?" Greg asked when he saw her eyes were open.  
  
"A bit better," she yawned.  
  
Abby, still struggling with her pizza, was now getting it all over Norah's sheets.  
  
"Abby," Greg frowned after seeing the sauce all over Norah's bedding.  
  
Norah didn't mind, though. She laughed. Abby watched her for a second and started to giggle too.  
  
Greg noticed the fighting had stopped. "Better see who was just killed," he murmured, luckily, too softly for Abby to hear. He walked out the door and watched the too making-out on Norah's couch. "Oh, God." He shook his head.  
  
After Abby, Nick, and Lydia left in Nick's car that had been parked some three spaces away and Greg helped change Norah's blankets, Greg and Norah laid in her bed talking about everything that had happened in those four years. Norah was still tired but was too glad about being home that she couldn't fall back asleep.  
  
She was rather joyous about being at her apartment again. She basically gave it to Lydia until she was actually married. Her family didn't approve of Nick and her staying in the same house anymore than they liked the fact that she had slept with him in the first place. It was hers for five months, until Nick and her finally got hitched and she had Baby Abby the month after. They then used it for more or less their guest corridors, with Norah's consent of course. They had relatives, mostly from the Stokes family, visiting from the day after Abby was born up until she turned two- and-a-half. And they came from everywhere to see them and the baby, many from Texas. In return, they paid the rent for Norah, taking the money from the wedding gifts they got from their friends and families.  
  
Norah had fallen asleep again as Greg replayed the very small wedding Norah was invited to, but didn't have the money to go to. She worked at a coffee shop to put herself though college. It paid a little bit more than the casino, but she didn't have the money to fly back to Las Vegas, buy a dress, AND a wedding present for them. Nick said she didn't have to buy a present but Norah couldn't find the time to get back anyway.  
  
He frowned a bit and slid under the covers next to her. He started playing with her fingers in his, when he discovered something was missing. His ring. His heart started to beat faster as his eyes narrowed into a glare. He tightened his jaw and walked across the hall and into the bathroom.  
  
He looked at himself in the mirror that covered the medicine cabinet above the white sink. 'Can you be any more gullible? She's obviously just using you,' his reflection told him. 'If she actually loved you, she would be wearing your ring.'  
  
"There must be a reason why she's not wearing it," he said aloud.  
  
'Duh, I just told you why.' The voice said inside his head.  
  
Greg glared at the mirror and rubbed his eyes. They were filed with fury, his lips shut tightly. He walked out of the bathroom and didn't stop till he got to his car. 


	2. Blast From the Past

Chapter Two: Blast from the Past  
  
"Um...hi, Greg. It's Norah. Give me a call. Please. Um...okay. Bye." Norah slammed the phone down. Hopefully the thirty-third message would be the charm. She had been calling for four days straight now.  
  
Tears formed in her eyes. Why was he ignoring her? What had she done?  
  
She knew he was home; it was only three in the afternoon and his shift wouldn't start for another four hours.  
  
She wondered how many times you could call before the person could file a harassment charge as she picked up the phone again. "Greg. I know you're home. Please, please, pick up." She waited in silence until the answering machine hung up on her.  
  
She buried her head in her arms, which were folded on her counter top. She let the tears flow. 'What am I doing wrong?' She asked herself.  
  
She sat on a stool in her kitchen and sulked until she heard a knock on her door. Her face lit up as she rushed to it. She swung the door open and stared at who she saw.  
  
"Um...hi." The blonde smiled.  
  
Norah stared.  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
Norah stared.  
  
"Okay then, I'll stand here."  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Norah asked Owen.  
  
"Nice to see you, too." He walked past her inside the apartment.  
  
"How did you find me?" Norah asked the tall Californian.  
  
He shrugged. "Someone at this casino told me. It's been, what? Like, 4-and- a-half years? Aren't you happy to see me?" He smiled.  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself."  
  
Owen looked around, "I see you haven't lost your sass."  
  
"Or my grade-A pitching arm," she curled her hand into a fist. "Get out of my house."  
  
"No need for violence, I come with a peace offering," he held out a dozen red roses. He smiled at how charming he was.  
  
"Get out!" She shouted.  
  
He placed the flowers on her coffee table and grabbed a piece of paper that was laying down on it also. He quickly jotted down a number and gave Norah a seductive smile. "If you ever need me."  
  
"Well, I guess you don't have to worry about me running up your phone bill then."  
  
"Ouch."  
  
"I'm getting married, you know," she lied. "My fiancée's a professional wrestler." She nodded.  
  
He frowned but didn't leave. "You left this," he said pointing to himself, "for one of those big, ugly wrestlers?"  
  
"I wouldn't call him that to his face. He eats guys like you for breakfast."  
  
"Guys like me?"  
  
"Yeah--Assholes."  
  
"Burn after burn? Is that how it's going to be?" Owen smirked.  
  
"Yes." Norah said raising her eyebrows.  
  
"Where's the ring, liar?" Owen said, his eyes not leaving hers.  
  
"Up your ass," she said trying to push him out.  
  
"Seriously. You can't lie for shit. You're horrible at it."  
  
She looked down at her hand, she was going to show him her Promise Ring and say it was an engagement ring. It looked nothing like an engagement ring but Owen, being the idiot he was, would believe anything. Her heart stopped when she saw that her ring finger had a white void where the ring had blocked the sun from tanning that spot on her hand. "Get out!" She pointed out the door.  
  
Owen retreated back into the hall with his hands in the air. "Okay, okay." He turned back to her and opened his mouth to say something else.  
  
She grabbed the flowers from the table and threw them at him. Closing the door as she walked back to her kitchen. "Oh shit, oh shit." She stared at her finger. She held her head. She tried to retrace her steps from New York to her apartment as she ran into her bedroom and tore the sheets off the bed. She shook out each layer of blankets carefully, listening for the ring to hit the floor.  
  
She looked under the bed, behind the toilet, and in between the cushions of the couch. She couldn't find it anywhere.  
  
She remembered having it on the plane but couldn't place it anywhere else after that.  
  
She picked up the phone and dialed Nick and Lydia's number.  
  
"Hello?" A male voice answered.  
  
"Nicky! Why is Greg mad at me? Have you seen my ring? Oh my God. Where is it?" She shot question after question at him as she crawled on the floor.  
  
Nick blinked a few times. "Um..." He didn't know which to answer first.  
  
"Did Greg say anything to you? About me, you know."  
  
"Not to me." He shrugged.  
  
"Nick. He hates me and I don't know why," she whined. "But I lost his ring and I think it might have something to do with it."  
  
"I'll go talk to him," Nick offered, like she hoped he would.  
  
"Check in his car. I haven't left the house since I got home and that was the last place I was."  
  
He nodded, even though she couldn't see him do it, said good-bye and hung up. He had a growing migraine that just got worse when he stepped outside with Abby on his hip.  
  
Abby sang the Spider Song as Nick strapped her into her car seat.  
  
"Down came the rain and washed the spider out!" Abby sang happily.  
  
Nick rubbed his temples gently as he climbed into the driver's seat.  
  
"Where are we going, daddy?" Abby asked from the backseat.  
  
"To Greg's, baby." He answered her, pulling out of the driveway and into the street.  
  
"Ooh! The guy with the funny hair?" She started to chant, "Hair Man! Hair Man! We're gonna see Hair Man!"  
  
He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.  
  
"Do you think he'll let me do his hair in braids again, daddy?" Abby asked him, looking outside instead of at his eyes in the rearview mirror.  
  
He licked his lips a bit as he hung a right. "Um...I don't think so honey." He laughed at the memory; it took Greg a week to get the knots out. "We're going on business today."  
  
"Busy-ness?"  
  
He nodded. "Yep, we're going to play hide-and- seek with Cousin Norah's ring."  
  
Abby looked at him in the mirror. "I don't think I've never played that game with a ring before, daddy."  
  
"That's what makes it fun." He smiled.  
  
"Oh. I like fun things." She nodded. She started singing the Spider Song again as Nick pulled into Greg's apartment complex.  
  
Nick parked the car and went around to the back seat to get Abby. He walked up to the glass door that separated them from inside the apartments. Nick buzzed Greg's apartment.  
  
"Who is it?" A voice asked rather rudely.  
  
"Sanders, open up," Nick answered.  
  
"Sanders, open up," Abby repeated, putting her hand on her hip and glaring at the intercom.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because. We're here on busy-ness!" Abby nodded.  
  
"Well, I don't exactly want to die today, so come back tomorrow." Greg answered back.  
  
"Believe me, Sanders. If I were going to kill someone I wouldn't have brought Abby. Lydia would never forgive me. Now open." Nick said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
"We ARE talking, Nick." Greg said, getting annoyed.  
  
"Where's Norah's ring?" Nick asked him.  
  
Abby rolled her eyes. "We're supposed to find it, daddy! That's the whole point of hide-and-seek!"  
  
"I know, babes, but Greg's going to give us a hint," Nick slicked back her blonde hair a bit.  
  
She nodded. "Oh."  
  
"I don't know where her ring is! Probably at some pawnshop in New York. Why don't you ask your niece? She's the whore who sold it."  
  
"First of all, my niece is not a whore. You're a dick head for calling her one. She loves you, asshole. Second, she doesn't know where it is. She made me come look in your car, she's at her house looking for it right now." Nick shouted.  
  
"Yeah," Abby backed him up.  
  
Greg started outside instead of answering back to him. He was sorry he called her a whore but he still wasn't sure he believed she was looking for the ring. He had jumped to the conclusion she sold it and nothing was going to change his mind at this point. He picked up his car keys off his kitchen table and walked out to the front of the apartments. He walked past Nick and Abby without saying a word and unlocked the passenger side of his car.  
  
Nick opened the door and slid his hand between the seats. After ten minutes of checking everywhere in the car they'd found six popcorn-flavored jellybeans, seven if you count the one Abby ate, one of Norah's hair ties, and 82¢ in pennies and dimes.  
  
"I told you." Greg glared and walked through the glass door and down the hall to his apartment.  
  
Abby and Nick got back into the Tahoe and left. "Asshole!" Nick shouted hitting his steering wheel for emphasis.  
  
"Yeah! Asshole!" Abby repeated.  
  
"Don't say that word in front of mommy, okay? And don't tell her daddy taught it to you."  
  
"Kay!" She smiled and started singing London Bridges.  
  
He sighed as he pulled out into the street, in the direction of Norah's house. 


	3. Bad Decisions

Chapter Three: Bad Decisions  
  
Norah ran out of Nick's car and through the spinning glass doors. She went up to a lady who worked at the airport. "Excuse me, ma'am?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you have a lost-and-found or something? I lost a very important ring about five days ago and I think it may be here," Norah's eyes pleaded.  
  
The woman looked at her. "Hmm...I can check with the janitors. What does it look like?"  
  
"It's a gold band and it has a blue stone in the middle." She swallowed.  
  
"Do you have a number I could call if I find it?" The woman smiled.  
  
Norah scribbled down her telephone number on the back of a piece of paper she found in her purse along with her name. "Thank you so much." She walked out into the warm air and looked out at Nick's car and about five other cars behind him, all beeping at him. She dove into the front seat and Nick pulled away from the curb.  
  
She felt betrayed. She didn't know why she was looking for that stupid ring. Nick had told her about how Greg called her a whore and accused her of selling the ring. Her eyelids folded up into a glare when she thought about it.  
  
"Asshole!" Abby shouted out the window at a passing car, her fist flying.  
  
Norah's face scrunched up in amusement. "Who taught her that?"  
  
"Greg," Nick answered quickly.  
  
Norah's smile faded from the sound of his name. She glued her eyes to the window.  
  
-----  
  
The next few weeks were okay for Norah. Despite being lonely the whole time, she had gotten a job as a sixth grade teacher and the lady at the airport had found her ring. She had a plan for Greg that she promised she'd put into action soon.  
  
She took Lindsey out, too.  
  
She, like Abby, had grown so much since Norah had last seen her. Norah could still see the second grade girl in the backseat of Nick's car with ice cream down the front of her shirt. She looked like gonna-be-sixth- grader now -- brand names and a dab of makeup. She made a 26-year-old Norah feel old.  
  
Nonetheless, she was still sweet, even though Catherine would tell you otherwise about the preteen.  
  
"My mom told me you're teaching in my school," Lindsey said squinting at the sun.  
  
Norah nodded. "Yeah, I was kind of a last minute pick." With three days until school started, it really was a last minute thing. Norah had gotten the books and started a lesson plan that was still yet to be completed.  
  
"That's cool." Lindsey smiled.  
  
"Yeah. I'm kind of scared, though," Norah admitted. She hated being the new person, she prayed for the best.  
  
Lindsey looked at her and searched her face, wondering if it was a jest. She could only remember a strong, reliable Norah from four years ago. "Are you serious?"  
  
"Yeah! What if --" Norah started.  
  
Lindsey cut her off. "Don't think about the what ifs. If you act like you act around me, they'll love you."  
  
Norah smiled.  
  
"Besides," Lindsey continued, "they like the younger teachers compared to the old ones. I think it's because we can relate to them." She nodded briefly to show her she was for real.  
  
Norah laughed a bit, remember her school years and how true that was back then. She pulled into the McDonald's parking lot.  
  
"Isn't this the place we got kicked out of?" Lindsey asked.  
  
Norah nodded. "Yeah, almost." She chuckled. "We bought a Barbie doll so the manager would shut up and let us play in the Ball Crawl." She was impressed that Lindsey remembered.  
  
They got out of the car and walked into the burger joint reminiscing about the days before Norah left for college. Both were filled with the warmth of having found a long lost friend. Lindsey was glad she had a mentor she could talk to; Catherine was always at work and she just couldn't talk to Eddie about guys and clothes.  
  
Norah was just glad to be thinking about something other than past love. She felt so under-achieved in the love department. She'd always wanted to be married and have a kid by age 25, now she didn't even have a steady boyfriend.  
  
Once they were finished catching up and bingeing on french fries they headed for the LVPD crime lab. As they walked in and asked the receptionist to page Catherine, Norah noticed that Lindsey had gotten very much taller. She was only about a half of a foot shorter than she was.  
  
They heard Catherine's heels click in a very specific rhythm until she stopped in front of them. "Hey, girls."  
  
They smiled back at her and greeted her with 'hellos.' She led them to the break room, which was already occupied by a daydreaming Archie. Catherine decided she was going to have a 'girls night' with Lindsey since she'd been working overtime for the past month, but she still had something to finish up in the lab before she took Lindsey.  
  
The girls sat on the opposite side of the table as Archie, who was staring at his coffee, and Catherine went back to what she'd been doing in one of the dark rooms of the lab.  
  
Archie looked up after a minute. "Hello, ladies."  
  
"Hey, Arch," Lindsey smiled.  
  
Norah smiled, too. "Hey." She didn't know him all that well but from what she knew of him, he was sweet.  
  
Lindsey stood up. "I'll be right back. I have to use the bathroom." She left the room, leaving Norah and Archie in silence.  
  
Archie spoke first. "So, how's the Greg-Norah relationship going?"  
  
Norah shook her head.  
  
"That bad?"  
  
She laughed a bit. "Basically, it's non-existent at the moment."  
  
"Oh." He didn't seem too upset about it. "Want to go to a movie sometime?"  
  
She let out another slight laugh. "Sure," she smiled.  
  
He slid his cell phone across the table for her to program her number in it. He leaned against the table with his elbows hanging off a bit as she picked up his phone and went to the phone book.  
  
She handed it back to him. Right on cue, Greg walked into the break room.  
  
Archie slide his cell in his pocket and raise his eyebrows at Greg and then Norah. The other two didn't move. Greg stood in the doorway, Norah in her chair.  
  
"Excuse me, I have to go sell my body," she said sarcastically to Greg, even though it was directed toward Archie. She got up from her chair and walked toward the door. "Tell Linds I said 'bye.'" She stopped in front of Greg. Her face only a few centimeters from his face. She could hear his heart beat. "As for you, Mr. Pimp," she moved her face closer; their lips just barely touching, "this is for you." She stuck her head in his front right pocket and put something in it. "Hope you're happy without your whorish girlfriend." She turned quickly, her hair slapping him in the face. She left the air in the room stale.  
  
Archie looked away from Greg as he pulled the ring from his pocket. He returned it and walked to the coffeepot.  
  
Archie glanced up again and shrugged a bit before getting up and leaving to bury himself alive with Manila folders and videotapes.  
  
Greg sat where Norah was sitting before. What had he done?  
  
-----  
  
Norah laid on the couch, more or less. She was as drunker than she'd ever been. She knew she shouldn't have taken the wine out of her cabinet. Greg had bought it for the night she moved in, over four years ago, but Lydia and Nick interrupted them.  
  
She groaned at the thought of someone actually being happy. She wished she was, instead she was stuck dateless, hanging off her couch on a Sunday night.  
  
She tipped back the bottle and filled her taste buds with the bitter wine. "Here's to you Greggo."  
  
She scowled at herself for saying his name. She thought about her other options. She could call Archie and beg him to take advantage of her to get her mind off of Greg. Or call Owen, who had been calling nonstop for about a month, even though she'd sure he'd be more willing to do to the things described before than Archie would. Or she could drink more.  
  
She chose number three. She finished the bottle and put the glass on the table. Before long she'd passed out on the couch.  
  
She didn't wake up until she heard banging on her door. She could barely move so instead she rolled off the couch and crawled to the door. She pulled herself up with the doorknob as support. When she opened the door her head started to throb more than before.  
  
She must have looked as drunk as she felt. "Have you been drinking?" Greg asked.  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"I just came --"  
  
Norah cut him off. "Save it for someone who cares." She went to close the door but he held his arm out to keep it open.  
  
"Please hear me out."  
  
Maybe she didn't hate him as much as she vowed she did. She opened the door and stepped out of the way for him to come in. She closed the door and sat on the floor in front of the couch, her head between her knees.  
  
"I didn't mean it when I called you a -- you know. I was just mad and I guess I jumped to conclusions."  
  
Norah searched Greg's face for a second. Then her head started to hurt too much and she replaced it on her knees.  
  
"Forgive me?"  
  
"I guess." She barely got the words out before she had to puke. She rushed to the bathroom, half stumbling, half crawling.  
  
She just made it to the toilet before she blew chunks. Greg kneeled by her and held her hair for her. She had a gnawing pain above her right eyebrow. She groaned and reached for a towel to wipe her mouth off. "I'm so stupid."  
  
"No you're not," Greg told her. He slid a blue hair tie off her wrist and gathered her hair into a low ponytail on her head.  
  
"I shouldn't have drank. I knew this was going to happen. And," she paused to take a deep breath, "I'll probably lose my job." She started to cry. "I was just depressed."  
  
He was now sitting against the wall. He pulled gently her off the bathtub and between his legs. He put his arms around the front of her, one shoulder to the other. "It's fine."  
  
"Greg?"  
  
"And you're not going to lose your job."  
  
"Greg?"  
  
"And you'll feel fine once you sober up."  
  
"Greg?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I have to throw up again."  
  
He let go of her and she kneeled again at the toilet. He rubbed her back.  
  
"Do you want me to stay tonight? Just to make sure you're okay," Greg asked.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Are you done?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Okay," he said softly, picking her up and carrying her to her to her room. He set her down on her bed. "Do you have any aspirin for your headache?"  
  
She nodded, weeping softly from the pain. "In the medicine cabinet."  
  
He walked into the bathroom and got the bottle. He took two out and walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water for Norah. He walked back into the bedroom and handed her both and sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
He crept over her as gently as he could and laid down next to her. He put his hand on her hip and reached up her shirt a bit to her stomach. He rubbed it gently as he kissed her gently on the neck and up her face. When he reached her mouth she pulled away.  
  
"Hold on." The aspirin really did help. Her massive headache had dulled down to a slight buzz. She went across the hall to the bathroom, she shut the door and grabbed her toothbrush from the pink holder and brushed her teeth and her tongue vigorously. She rinsed and walked back into her room.  
  
She laid down again, now facing Greg. He kissed her gently.  
  
The rising sun streamed through the white, opaque curtains. Norah looked at the clock as Greg pulled her closer and softly tugged her shirt off. It was only 7 in the morning; Greg had only been off work for a few hours. He kissed her bare shoulders and rolled on top of her. 


	4. A Proposal

Chapter Four: A Proposal  
  
The morning was great. Finally, more than an hour without someone interrupting them. Norah lifted her head off of Greg's chest a bit. She looked around, it was now 3 in the afternoon. "Shoot." She remembered that she was babysitting Abby that day in a half-hour. She got up and walking into her bathroom.  
  
She felt a lot better than she had earlier that morning. She slid into the shower. After about five minutes she stepped out onto the shaggy, pink bathmat. She brushed her teeth and wrapped an off-white towel around her body.  
  
She hurried back into her room, surprised to see Greg awake. "Hey," he greeted her, adding a smile on.  
  
"Good morning. Or afternoon, rather." She pushed a couple of strands of wet, black hair away from her eyes as she walked over to her dresser.  
  
She slid a pair of white bikini-cut underwear over her thighs.  
  
"Where are you going?" Greg asked.  
  
"No where, but I suggest you get some clothes on. Abby's coming over," she told him while hooking her bra.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Babysitting." She rummaged through her closet.  
  
"Come on," he whined. "I don't have any clean clothes here and I don't want to baby-sit. Can't you cancel?"  
  
"Lyd and Nick deserve some time alone together, too," she told him, while sliding on a pair of jeans.  
  
He rolled his eyes. She tossed a sweatshirt she had stolen from his closet and taken to New York at him. She loved how it smelled. Just like him. "Thanks, I really appreciate you taking my clothes."  
  
She smiled as she took a purple shirt off a plastic hanger.  
  
"Can't Lindsey baby-sit? She's, like, ten now, isn't she?" He asked putting on his jeans from the night before.  
  
"Try twelve." Norah ran a brush through her hair.  
  
"Even better," Greg smiled. He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and walked over to Norah's stereo. He flipped through her CDs. "Now you're stealing my music too?" He held up the CD she had taken from his collection.  
  
"Sorry, but I had a reason."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Yeah! I was going to be away from you for four years." She grinned.  
  
"Did you miss me?"  
  
"Duh," she said simply. She smiled waiting for him to say the same.  
  
"Want something to eat?" He asked leaving for the kitchen.  
  
She frowned and followed him into the kitchen. "Did you miss me?" She leaned against the counter.  
  
"Of course," he kissed her on the head.  
  
Her face lit up.  
  
"But don't expect me to steal your underwear to prove it though," he said looking through the fridge.  
  
She laughed.  
  
"Don't you have any orange juice?" He asked.  
  
"No," she looked out the window. "They're here." She watched Abby run out of the car, Lydia yell at her and Nick walk behind them.  
  
"You should buy orange juice," Greg told her.  
  
She squinted. "Why?"  
  
"Because I like it."  
  
"Then you buy it." She walked to the door and opened it before they could knock.  
  
They walked in. Nick looked at Greg and then Norah. He raised his eyebrows.  
  
Abby tugged on his shirt. "Asshole!" She pointed at Greg and looked up at her dad.  
  
Lydia looked at Abby, her eyes wide. "Abigail Hope Stokes!"  
  
Abby saw how she had looked at her and pointed at her father. "He taught it to me!"  
  
Nick frowned. "You broke the promise, Abby."  
  
Abby looked like she was going to cry. "Sorry, daddy."  
  
"Don't say sorry to him, Abby." Lydia glared at Nick. "How could you corrupt our daughters mind with those bad words?"  
  
Greg and Norah looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"Wait, did she just call me an asshole?" Greg's jaw dropped.  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. Like her life wasn't chaotic enough. She pushed Lydia and Nick out of the apartment and looked at a bawling Abby. Greg was gaping still. Norah picked Abby up. "It's okay." She rubbed her back. She looked at Greg and pushed his jaw up with her index finger. "Get over it." She shook her head and sat on the couch.  
  
"Am I really an asshole?" Greg asked.  
  
"No," Norah told him.  
  
Abby had stopped crying and was standing between the two on the couch. She pet Greg's hair. "You're hair looks pretty today."  
  
Greg smiled. "Really?"  
  
Abby nodded and sniffled a little.  
  
Greg looked touched. "Thank you, Baby Abby. That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."  
  
Norah shook her head. "Dear Lord," she muttered under her breath.  
  
"So can I braid it?" Abby smiled.  
  
"Nope."  
  
Abby slid down the back of the couch onto the cushion and pouted. "Can I watch TV?"  
  
"Sure," Norah handed her the remote.  
  
Abby pressed the biggest button on the remote control. And flipped through the channels until she got to Nickelodeon. "Ooh! Rugrats!" Her head bobbed to the theme song.  
  
Greg got up and walked around the back of the couch. He grabbed Norah's hand and pulled her toward her bedroom.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
He kissed her. "Come on."  
  
"Greg," she shook her head, "we can't."  
  
"Just a half an hour?" He pleaded.  
  
"No way."  
  
"Why not? What could she possibly do in a half-hour?" He asked her.  
  
"You obviously have never babysat many kids," she pointed out. "There's a lot she could do. Nick would never forgive me. No," she said firmly.  
  
He rolled his eyes and let go of her arm. "Whatever."  
  
She took a deep breath. "She'll only be here for a few hours. Why don't we go out to a movie after?"  
  
He shrugged and sat next to Abby again.  
  
"Who wants to get some ice cream?" Norah asked.  
  
Abby's ears perked up. "Me! Me! Me!" She rose her hand in the air.  
  
Greg seemed to forget he wasn't getting any and rose his hands too. "Me too!" He grabbed Abby and flipped the TV off. He ran outside with Abby on his back. She giggled.  
  
Norah laughed a bit and grabbed her purse, something told her she was treating.  
  
-----  
  
Lydia and Nick didn't look at each other the whole time. They ate in silence.  
  
As Lydia climbed back into the car Nick looked at her. "Why are you mad at me? She's going to learn those words sometime."  
  
"But you basically just took her innocence away. She's not supposed to learn them until she's a teenager when they're already corrupted from society," she explained.  
  
He rolled his eyes. "You're blowing this out of proportion."  
  
"Whatever, just don't let her say it again until she's fifteen years old." Lydia nodded.  
  
"How the hell am I going to get her to stop?" Nick asked her.  
  
Lydia glared at him. "You got her saying it, you get her to stop."  
  
"Your hostility turns me on," Nick smiled and leaned in to kiss Lydia.  
  
She turned her head and he caught her cheek. "Does it LOOK like I'm in the mood, Nick?"  
  
Nick held his hands up. "Fine, fine." He started the car and drove over to Norah's.  
  
He got out but Lydia stayed in the car. He knocked on the door. Abby came running to the door. She screamed. "Who is it?"  
  
"Daddy. Where's Cousin Norah?" He asked through the door.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Nick was shocked. "What?"  
  
"Well, I do know."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"In her bedroom. I think she's sick. There's funny noises coming from there." Abby said.  
  
"Where's Greg?" He asked.  
  
Abby thought for a minute. "I think he's playing hide-and-seek. But, I can't find him."  
  
"Open the door, sweetie." Nick told her.  
  
She turned the knob and let him in. She pointed to the door of Norah's bedroom with her thumb.  
  
Nick walked down the short hall and he could hear the noises, too. Sounds of fornication.  
  
"It's locked." She nodded.  
  
Nick banged on the door.  
  
The moaning suddenly stopped. Now there were 'oh my god's and 'I told you's and the jiggle of keys and change in pockets and shirts over heads.  
  
The door opened finally and Norah and Greg stood there with guilty smiles smeared across their faces, like two kids who just stole cookies from the cookie jar.  
  
Nick looked at them. "I though you two were sitting a baby, not making one."  
  
Greg blushed a bit. Norah licked her lips but kept her eyes on the floor.  
  
"I don't know daddy, they were making a lot of noise for just calling the stork!" Abby exclaimed.  
  
Norah could help but smile.  
  
Greg blushed even more.  
  
"Who told you babies come from storks?" Nick asked.  
  
"Mommy," Abby nodded.  
  
Nick nodded, too. "Oh."  
  
"Speaking of Lydia, where is she?" Greg looked past Nick, knowing she would flip if she found out.  
  
"In the car," Nick told him.  
  
He nodded and lowered his eyes, his face still red.  
  
The four were silent for a couple of minutes.  
  
Norah broke it though; "I'm sorry, Nick. We thought she was taking a nap." She hoped Greg would jump in, since it was his fault anyway. He had persuaded her to do it because they had nothing else to do with Abby sleeping on the couch. But boredom was a weak reason to have sex so she didn't give any more details.  
  
Nick shook his head. "Whatever. It doesn't matter to me, but if Lydia finds out --"  
  
"We know, we know," an antsy Greg cut him off.  
  
Nick picked Abby up and headed to the door. "Bye guys."  
  
"Yeah, don't have TOO much fun," Abby winked over her father's shoulder.  
  
After they left Norah and Greg burst out laughing.  
  
"Something tells me she KNOWS babies don't come from storks," Norah giggled.  
  
"Norah?" Greg grew serious.  
  
She looked at him. "Yeah?"  
  
"Let's have a baby," Greg said, not trace of joking on his face or in his voice.  
  
Norah squinted. "Are you serious?"  
  
"Well, not tonight -- unless you want to. But, I mean...." Greg looked her in the eyes.  
  
She half-smiled. "I'm not sure I'm ready to have a kid yet, Greg. Are you sure YOU are ready for that kind of commitment either?"  
  
He looked her up and down. "I am."  
  
"I'm not sure I want to before I'm married, though," she answered honestly.  
  
"Then marry me," Greg said.  
  
Norah gazed at him. "You're kidding right?"  
  
Greg turned and walked toward the door.  
  
"Greg, stop."  
  
"Then take me seriously." He stopped at the door, but didn't turn to look at her.  
  
She bit her lip. She really didn't know if she wanted to be totally committed.  
  
Without warning, someone on the other side of the door knocked.  
  
Norah jumped at the sound.  
  
Greg opened the door to reveal Owen.  
  
"Who are you?" Both asked at the same time.  
  
"Norah's boyfriend," they answered in unison.  
  
"What?" Again, they shouted in perfect harmony.  
  
Both turned to the girlfriend in question. She stormed to the door. "You," she pointed to Owen, "are not a boyfriend. Especially my boyfriend. Can you please just stop ruining my life?" She now turned to Greg who had walked back into her apartment to grab his coat. "And if you were a true boyfriend you'd stop making your own conclusions and stop running away from your problems."  
  
She looked back and forth at both. "Now there are two choices. Owen can go and Greg can stay or you both can leave. I like the first one better but I don't have a problem with either." She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her fingertips on them gently.  
  
"I want to talk to you about this, Norah." Owen said.  
  
"Owen, it's over. What don't you get?" Norah asked, frustrated as ever. "I don't want you in my life anymore. You are a jerk."  
  
"And a stalker," Greg added.  
  
"And a stalker," Norah nodded.  
  
"And a..." Greg started.  
  
"Greg." Norah shook her head and then turned back to Owen. "Please, just leave me alone."  
  
"Wait, is this your pro-wrestler fiancée?" Owen tilted his head at the man in front of him who was about half his size.  
  
"Why, don't I look like a pro-wrestler?" Greg asked, making a mean face at Owen.  
  
Owen cocked an eyebrow. "More like a loser who's stealing my girl."  
  
"She's not your girl, she's mine." Greg shouted.  
  
"I'm not some magazine or something. I'm a human being. Stop fighting over me and Owen, get out," Norah said firmly.  
  
"Whatever, I'll be back." Owen promised.  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She shut the door and walked over to the couch. She sat and brought her knees to chin.  
  
"Care to tell me who that was?" Greg asked sitting on the opposite end.  
  
"Just a guy I dated." Norah neglected to say that they had a pretty serious relationship and were actually engaged for about three months. She shrugged. She wanted to change the subject but Greg didn't.  
  
"How many times have you been engaged before?" Greg asked, curiosity running through his veins.  
  
"Seven," Norah mumbled into her knees.  
  
"What?" Greg asked, holding his ear forward.  
  
"Seven, okay?" She glared at him.  
  
"Was he one of them?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
Greg shook his head. "If you were so quick to say yes to them, why don't you just say yes to me? You don't like me at all, do you? If you're just using me --"  
  
Norah cut him off shouting. "I didn't say yes because I was stupid then and they all burned me afterward. I like you more than I've liked any other guy in my life and I don't want it to be hurt again.  
  
"If you really want to get married, I'll do it. I want you to be happy."  
  
Greg thought for a second. "I do, but I don't want you to feel you're being forced into this."  
  
"No, I want to, if you're serious about this, I guess." She still wasn't sure she wanted to.  
  
He smiled and scooped her hands up in his and kissed them. She smiled. 


	5. Sex Ed

Chapter Five: Sex Ed  
  
(AN: This chapter's dedicated to the other three-quarters of the Four Musketeers. Especially Kayla who thinks I talk about sex too much. LOL. - Jess)  
  
Greg surprised Norah one night with a true proposal. They went out to a fancy Italian restaurant and he made them both a big spectacle. As he pulled out the ring a violinist and a singer came to their table and both started doing their thing. Norah laughed, even though she was so embarrassed. Everyone at the surrounding tables clapped afterward.  
  
When word of the whole presentation got around the lab Grissom only said, "Definitely something Greg would do." Then he congratulated him and went back to work.  
  
Catherine hugged him and hurriedly left the building to pick Lindsey up from the mall.  
  
Warrick didn't say anything. He half smiled and muttered something that might have been a congratulation.  
  
Sara just shook her head and buried her nose into the book she was reading.  
  
Archie frowned. "I didn't even get one date with her, man."  
  
Greg shook his head. "Thanks for the support, guys." He walked out of the break room and down the hall. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea," he muttered as he sat on his stool. He shook the idea out of his head. "What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with what everyone else thinks, it's about what me and Norah think." He nodded. He didn't realize that Abby was standing in the doorway listening to him fight with himself.  
  
"I know where babies come from," Abby shouted.  
  
Greg looked over the table at the 30 pounds of loudness.  
  
"Daddy told me." She nodded.  
  
"Where did you come from?" He asked.  
  
She took it a little too literally. "From my mommy and daddy. They went to bed and daddy went 'uh uh' and mommy went 'oh nick.'"  
  
He covered his ears. "I'm not listening to this!" He got up and stepped over her and shouted down the hall. "Nick! Come get your daughter!"  
  
"Is that what you and Cousin Norah do?"  
  
Greg squinted at her. "I'm not discussing my sex life with a three-year- old."  
  
Abby's eyes widened. "You said a bad word! I'm telling my daddy!"  
  
Nick walked down the hall and picked Abby up when he got to the lab.  
  
"Daddy, Asshole said s-e-k-s!" Abby said.  
  
"Nick, Abby was telling me about your sex life!" Greg tattled too.  
  
"There he goes again saying that word!" Abby shook her head.  
  
"Okay, honey, something tells me it's time to go home." He walked down the hall. "Don't say asshole again, okay? It makes your mommy very mad at daddy," he explained.  
  
Greg watched them get farther away and then eventually disappear. "What is the world's youth coming to?" He threw his hands in the air. He scrunched his nose up. "I sound like Eckley."  
  
-----  
  
"Mommy?"  
  
"Yeah, honey?" Lydia was trying to follow a cookbook, which was opened to the page on how to make lemon chicken. "Set the oven to 365°," she read aloud.  
  
"I think you've been misinforbed about where babies come from," Abby nodded.  
  
"Misinforbed? You mean misinformed. Where did you hear that word?" Lydia looked up.  
  
Abby thought for a second. "Mr. Grissom." Abby shook her head, frustrated that her mother changed the subject. "Mommy, you've been misinforbed about babies."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They don't come from storks. Daddy said so," Abby told her.  
  
"Nicholas Stokes!" Lydia shouted.  
  
"Call the fire department now?" He shouted from the living room.  
  
Lydia glared. "No. Get your butt in here."  
  
"What?" He asked from the doorway.  
  
"What did you tell Abby about sex?"  
  
Abby gasped and covered her mouth. "Ooh!"  
  
Lydia shook her head. "I guess we should tell her the truth. Even though she'll have a total of no innocence left at all." Lydia shook her head and continued. "When a mommy and a daddy, who are married and love each other a lot, decide it's time to have a baby, when they're married and realize they love each other a lot --"  
  
Nick cut her off. "And they've check the TV guide thoroughly and decided there isn't any good sporting events on..."  
  
Lydia elbowed him in the stomach and continued.  
  
Abby looked at her when she was done in confusion. "Is there lots of kissing evolved in his?"  
  
"You mean involved, sweetie," Lydia corrected.  
  
"Yes," Nick told her.  
  
Abby scrunched up her face in disgust. "Eww. I don't ever want to make babies." She picked a doll up off the kitchen floor and walked out of the room.  
  
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about her losing her virginity before she discovers boys." He shrugged.  
  
Lydia shook her head and returned to her chicken.  
  
"What's burning?" Nick sniffed the air.  
  
"I haven't even put the chicken in the oven yet, Nick." Lydia stared icily at him.  
  
Nick shrugged and grabbed an apple from the counter. "Well something's burning."  
  
She could smell it, too. She opened the oven and turned it off. She fanned the black smoke that was rising from the oven as Nick opened the window. She pulled a plastic cookie tray out of the oven with an oven mitt.  
  
Nick left the kitchen and shouted toward Abby's room. "Pizza time!"  
  
Abby ran out of her room. "Yay!"  
  
"Plastic food?" Lydia looked at the deformed fake slice of pizza through the thick smoke. "Abby! What did you do?"  
  
Abby started to cry. Half because of the smoke and half because her mom was yelling at her. "I just wanted to be like you, mommy."  
  
Lydia grinned with flattery until Nick spoke up. "Well, you've definitely achieved it." He choked on some smoke.  
  
Lydia elbowed him in the stomach again and noticed something. "Why isn't the smoke detector going off?"  
  
Nick's eyes broadened. "Um...I think we should get out of the house."  
  
"Nick! You forgot to change the battery didn't you?" She asked him, knowing the answer.  
  
"I'm sorry!" He started to the door, Abby in his arms.  
  
Lydia followed them. She was fuming.  
  
"Should we call the fire department NOW, honey?" Nick asked her.  
  
She scowled at him. "You're such an ignoramus."  
  
"I said sorry! No need to call names," Nick told her, walking across the street.  
  
Lydia followed. "What if that happened at night and we all died?"  
  
"As long as you don't start cooking midnight snacks for yourself, we'll be fine." Nick knocked on the door of their neighbor.  
  
Abby giggled.  
  
Lydia became more enraged. "Nicholas Stokes, state my word, if you don't change that battery you won't have to wait for a fire to die."  
  
Her glare sent a chill down Nick's spine. "Fine, I'll do it when we can actually go back into the house."  
  
Lydia wondered if she could believe him. "Good."  
  
"Ah, Mrs. Wilson. You look lovely this afternoon," he told the aged women. She wore a pink muumuu with matching curlers and fuzzy slippers.  
  
"What a charmer," she said dryly. "What can I do for you, Nicholas?"  
  
Nick always saw Mrs. Wilson as the female version of Jim Brass. He thought it was probably the sarcasm, although they had similar bone structure. Maybe they were cousins. He shrugged. "Can we use your phone ma'am? Our kitchen is on fire."  
  
"I thought the fire fighters told you to keep her out of the kitchen the last time this happened."  
  
Lydia's jaw dropped. "What if it wasn't my fault?" She challenged.  
  
"Who are you trying to kid?" Mrs. Wilson moved aside to let the three in.  
  
Nick placed Abby on the plastic-covered couch and picked up the black phone on the table next to it.  
  
As Nick talked on the phone, Abby was also striking up a conversation. "Mrs. Wilson, would you like to know where babies come from?"  
  
Lydia covered her mouth. "Um, baby, that's not something we should talk about now."  
  
"Okay." She smiled.  
  
Mrs. Wilson cocked an eyebrow. She sighed impatiently, obviously annoyed by their presence.  
  
Nick picked Abby up when he was done with the phone. "Thanks, Mrs. Wilson." He left to stand in front of his house on the sidewalk to wait for the fire department. Lydia followed faithfully.  
  
Some neighbors had stepped outside to witness the smoke. They glared at Lydia.  
  
Lydia folded her arms across her chest.  
  
When the firemen and women cleared the house the family went back in. Lydia flopped down on the couch and pouted. Nick checked out the damage in the kitchen, which wasn't much at all.  
  
He walked back out into the living room and sat next to Lydia. "It's good," he reassured her, after seeing a hint of a tear in her eye.  
  
"It's not that. It's just the fact that I'm trying so hard to be a good mother and wife and so far I'm failing miserably," Lydia said wiping her eyes.  
  
"No you're not. Are you kidding me? Abby loves you. She totally adores you. That's why this all started," he reminded her. He paused for her smile. "As for a wife -- I don't think I could have asked for a better girl to be with."  
  
She laughed slightly. "That was so corny."  
  
"I try," he grinned. Nick leaned in and kissed her gently.  
  
They turned after hearing a loud "eww" over their shoulders.  
  
Abby stood there making a face at their PDA. "Gross! I don't want to see you two make a baby!" She paused for a second. "Actually...I want a little brother." She nodded. "If you're taking 'quests."  
  
They smiled at each other.  
  
Abby shook her head and walked back into her room. 


	6. Career Paths

Chapter Six:  
  
Career Paths  
  
Norah was incredibly edgy. And Greg wasn't helping. He called her about twenty times the night before from work to wish her luck on her first day of actually working by herself.  
  
A "veteran sixth grade teacher," as the principal of the school put it, was to watch over her as something of a mentor. He was more like a hawk eyeing his prey. He made her very nervous because of how much he watched her. He always had something to say about her, too. From blocking the chalkboard to making her a's wrong.  
  
She showered and blow-dried her hair. She chose a purple dark V-neck shirt with black pants and wore her glasses instead of her contacts because she thought she looked more sophisticated.  
  
She walked into the kitchen and made some toast, even though she wasn't hungry. Plus, she thought her knotted stomach might force it back up if she tried to eat it, so she just set it on the counter.  
  
She took a couple of deep breaths to untangle her stomach and started out the door. She slid into the driver's seat of her red Jetta and started it up. She glanced up at the rearview mirror to see a familiar face in a car behind hers.  
  
"God, not again," she whispered at Owen strutted up to her car. He knocked on the window lightly. She rolled it down a smidgen. "Leave me alone. I have to get to work. Just -- leave me alone."  
  
"Can we talk?"  
  
Norah shook her head. "Your chance is over. It's over. I AM engaged now. To --"  
  
"Oh, I know," he told her. "I know all about him."  
  
She looked at him with confusion. "What?"  
  
"No, no. It's nothing like that." He chuckled.  
  
She looked at her car clock. "Look, I'm freaked out and I have to get to work."  
  
"Can we talk? Please?" He asked. "I think you deserve an apology."  
  
She looked at him skeptically. "Are you serious?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"What are you getting from this?" Norah asked.  
  
"A clear conscience."  
  
"Fine," she sighed.  
  
He smiled. "I'll call you about the details."  
  
"I'm sure you will."  
  
Owen walked back to his fancy car and unboxed Norah's car. She shook her head and pulled out of the apartment complex's parking lot and onto the street.  
  
A few minutes passed before her cell phone rang. She pressed the biggest button on the phone. "Hello?" She smiled at the voice on the other end. "Greg, you've only been off work for, what? Two hours? Night shifts suck like that. Get some sleep."  
  
"I can't. I'm so just so happy for you."  
  
She laughed. "It's not a big deal. Now go to sleep!"  
  
"Okay, but only if you come to lunch with me today."  
  
"Fine." She took the bribe, thinking of all the things she had to talk about with him about Owen anyway.  
  
"Luck."  
  
She beamed. "Thanks. Bye." She hung up and parked into a parking spot not too far from the school. She started getting nauseous with every step she took toward the building. She picked up some attendance sheets from her make-shift mailbox, which was really a thin plastic bin with 'MS. STOKES' typed across the top, lined up with all the other teacher's.  
  
She tried to sneak out of the main office of the establishment without being acknowledged about being late. She wasn't fast enough, though.  
  
"Ms. Stokes, I presume," Mr. Carpenter, the principal, bellowed from his door.  
  
Norah gave a weak smile as she spun around quickly to look at him. "Good morning, Mr. Carpenter." She glanced quickly at the clock above his head to discover that it was 5 minutes after school started.  
  
"Mrs. Concord unlocked your door for your students."  
  
"I'm sorry, there was a lot of traffic," Norah lied.  
  
Mr. Carpenter squinted at her. "I'm sure," he noted dryly.  
  
Norah bounced on her heels a bit. "Well, thank you. Bye." She dashed out of the main office like she was on fire and panic was setting in quickly. She rushed up the stairs and quickly ducked into her room to find a young man sitting in her desk and all the kids quietly and mischievously looking at him. Norah could almost see the horns poking out of their tiny heads. "I'm so sorry." Norah wondered why they would call a substitute in if she hadn't called in. The sub looked up at her. "I'm Ms. Strokes...this is my class." She gave a warm smile.  
  
The man just stared at her with scared eyes, barely blinking. The kids giggled a bit. She looked at each child searching for answers.  
  
He ran out of the room without saying anything.  
  
Norah cocked an eyebrow and looked in the direction the rest of the class was looking -- at the class clown, Ethan. A wide grin was spread across his face. "Ethan, can you tell me what happened here?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Can any of you?"  
  
Madison raised her hand sheepishly. Madison was a bit left out by the other students, mainly because she tattled on them constantly. She was probably Norah's favorite, or so all the others thought.  
  
"Yes, Madison?" Norah called on her.  
  
She pulled her hand down and took a deep breath. "Ethan told Mr. Peterson you were dead." She nodded.  
  
Norah tried not to laugh. These kids were smarter than they looked; she found that out the hard way. On her first day the pulled meaner pranks than all the senior classes in her old high school put together. But they said sorry the next day, she forgave them right away. She had to, how can you teach people who you dislike? Those huge missing-tooth smiles factored in, too, though. "That's so mean guy." She shook her head, holding back her grin.  
  
They hung their heads. "Sorry," they said in unison.  
  
Emily spoke up. "We just KNEW you were coming in today and it seemed like the best prank of the millenium!"  
  
Norah smirked. She changed the subject, "Well, guys, as you can see we don't have Mr. Cobble with us any more," she said referring to the "experienced sixth grade teacher." "It's just me and you. I want to get to know you guys the best I can. I made up a print-off with twenty questions on it. Find a partner and ask that person the questions and then fill the sheet out. This way we'll all learn something new about someone."  
  
Once the word 'partner' was said everyone got antsy. They glanced around frantically at their best friends silently asking if they wanted to be their partner.  
  
"Okay, go for it. Lindsey, want to be my partner -- since there's an odd number?"  
  
Lindsey nodded. Catherine transferred Lindsey into Norah's class after a week of school. Lindsey wasn't happy there, except for when Norah talked to her. She was basically friendless, but she didn't complain since her best friend wasn't in her other class anyway.  
  
Erin pulled her blue-seated chair over to Madison's desk. Ethan and Autumn were apparently the newest, cutest couple in the sixth grade. Autumn instructed Ethan firmly to turn down Justin's request to work together. Justin didn't mind though, he just worked with his other best friend, Adam. Emily turned her desk around to face her best friend Cassy. Jimmy was disappointed at his buds for leaving him out and joined his friend Gabriel, although he'd probably have to dodge the comments of his decision from the members of his buddies for the rest of the day. Devin and Chris sat against a wall by the door, pens and papers in hand. Zoë and her sidekick Bethany sat in another corner giggling.  
  
Lindsey looked at her fourteen classmates and frowned before looking at Norah, who had rolled her chair over to Lindsey's desk. She forced a smile. "Okay, question number one. What's your full name?"  
  
"Norah Elizabeth Stokes."  
  
"Soon to be Sanders," Lindsey grinned. She felt a bit better, even though the wishes for acceptance were still fresh in her mind.  
  
Norah couldn't stop the smile on her face from forming either.  
  
Once the class was done they returned to their seats.  
  
"Okay, who wants to present their information about their partner first?" Norah asked, standing in the front of the room. Zoë's hand shot up first. "Okay, Zoë. Would you like to stand in the front of the room?"  
  
She nodded and walked up to the front of the room. "My partner was Bethany." She smiled at Bethany. "Her full name is Bethany Audrey Kipper. Her birthday's January 9th. Her favorite subject is social studies and she likes to watch television. The funniest word is llama and her dad is a construction worker and her mom is a paleontologist. Oh, and her best friend is me." Zoë beamed as if to tell the others 'and you're not.' She slowly took her seat, squeezing out every bit of attention from her classmates she could get.  
  
The other interview results were pretty much congruent to Zoë's.  
  
Norah stood up in front of everyone again. "My partner was Lindsey. Her full name is Lindsey Marie Willows and her birthday is May 16th. Her favorite subject is English. She likes to listen to music and hang out with her friends. The funniest word she knows is hankie." Norah paused while the boys laughed. Autumn nudged Ethan to get him to stop as the other girls also scoured. "Her best friend's Brianna Booth. And her mother's a forensic scientist."  
  
"What does a forensic scientist do?" Cassy asked coyly from the back row.  
  
"A person who uses science and technology to investigate and establish facts in courts of law," Chris answered from the front row.  
  
Norah blinked. She sometimes wondered how she got in the front of the class. Chris was one of the smartest children in the state, let alone their 15-student class -- the smallest in the school.  
  
The whole class gave a few awkward 'oh's, pretending they actually understood him.  
  
"Like a lawyer?" One timid voice ventured into the Land of Embarrassment.  
  
Norah looked back at Cassy. "No, no...but they gather and process the evidence the lawyer's use to put the criminals in jail."  
  
Cassy nodded and gave a more solid smile.  
  
"How come you know so much about it?" Devin asked.  
  
"Well, my uncle and my fiancé work with Lindsey's mom."  
  
"So, this has to do with science?" Gabriel asked, trying to get everything totally cleared up. Her little nose was scrunched up with confusion.  
  
Norah nodded. "Yep."  
  
"I want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up!" Justin shouted, hardly being able to contain his excitement.  
  
Norah grinned. She looked up at the clock on the east wall of the classroom. Their interview took a little longer than she expected it would. "Guys, guys. It's time for lunch." She tried to shush the enthusiastic children surrounding Lindsey, penetrating her with questions from all directions.  
  
They all lined up at the door, pulling an overwhelmed Lindsey all over the place.  
  
"Sit with me, Linds!" Autumn shouted.  
  
Zoë glared at Autumn. "She already said yes to me!"  
  
"You can Chinese cut me, Lindsey -- if you want." Adam grinned.  
  
"Well, actually, I promised my best friend - Brianna - I'd sit with her." Lindsey said and pushed her way to her rightful spot in the back of the line.  
  
Zoë, the most popular girl in the sixth grade class - and probably the most conniving, followed her. "You AND Brianna can sit with me."  
  
Bethany looked back at her best friend. "What? What about me? There's not enough room at our table for four people." She shook her head.  
  
Zoë shrugged this off as just another one of Bethany's pleas for attention.  
  
Norah turned off the light to show the kids she meant business. They quietly stood at attention, everyone looking at Norah, who opened the door to reveal Greg. She turned quickly and ran into him. The kids giggled. "Sorry," she smiled. "I just have to take them down to the cafeteria."  
  
"Okay." Greg grinned back. "Can I come with you guys?"  
  
"Yeah." Norah swiveled back around to face her class. "Okay, guys. This is Greg, my fiancé."  
  
"You guys are getting married?" Ethan asked.  
  
"The forensic scientist?" Justin blurted out.  
  
Norah watched Lindsey wave to Greg from the back of the line. "He's a chemist, yes. And yes, we are getting married," She answered all the questions as fast as possible, to get the kids down to lunch just as fast. She swiftly turned again and led the class down the hall, like a family of ducks taking a trip to a pond. Norah and Greg left the children at their normal tables in the cafeteria and headed out toward the front of the school.  
  
"Ms. Stokes," a voice stopped the couple in their tacks.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Carpenter?"  
  
"Your cousin, Abigail Stokes, got in trouble and the primary school can't reach her parents." He continued after a second's pause. "I'll give you the rest of the day off, if you need it."  
  
"Thank you, sir." Norah walked out the door and down the fifteen feet of parking lot to Greg's car.  
  
"So, that's your boss?" Greg asked, a step behind Norah. "He seems nice."  
  
"That's because you don't work with him." Norah said, traces of bitterness fresh on her tongue.  
  
Greg shook his head and laughed a little bit. He unlocked the passenger side for Norah and then walked around the front of the blue car to the driver side. "What do you think she got in trouble for this time?"  
  
"Maybe she explained sex to the kids again," Norah suggested.  
  
"Lydia's going to be mad." Greg chuckled, "And Nick will probably be proud."  
  
Norah laughed, too. "Probably. They're totally different from each other, it's kind of weird."  
  
"I guess opposites DO attract." Greg pulled into the parking lot. After parking the car, the two walked into the school. Norah opened the glass door to reveal a pouting girl in a stained, pink sundress in her father's comforting arms, her embarrassed mother shouted, although no one was listening.  
  
"What happened?" Norah asked no one in particular.  
  
Abby burst out the story before anyone else could, making sure to add her opinion on this whole catastrophe. "Matthew the Bonehead made fun of my dress because it's prettier than him and I told him he was jealous - and he is! And he threw his cupcake that I made on my dress! So I punched him in his big, fat tummy."  
  
Greg squinted. "Why did you guys have cupcakes?"  
  
"For Abby's birthday," Lydia answered.  
  
"You would think that people would remember the most important day of the whole year!" Abby rolled her eyes and threw her tiny hands into the air.  
  
"I knew that, Baby Abby. I just wanted to see if you remembered." Greg tried to save himself.  
  
Abby shook her head. "Sure, Mister Hair Man."  
  
"Abby, don't you think your story was kind of biased?"  
  
Abby stuck out her tongue. "No way! It's the truth." She nodded matter-of- factly.  
  
Greg wondered silently if she really knew the meaning of 'biased,' not even sure that he did.  
  
Just then, two more parents walked into the main office. The woman had sandy-colored hair and brown, almost black eyes. The man they assumed to be either her husband or her lawyer had a black suit on and his hair was neatly parted. A little boy with the same expression that Abby had on his face tagged along. He, too, wore cupcake stained clothes.  
  
Abby tightened her facial expression into a glare. She whispered the words "Matthew the Bonehead" in the little boy's direction.  
  
The little boy mouthed "Abby the Whining Monkey Butt."  
  
The four parents sat down at some chairs, while Norah and Greg waited outside a window looking into the office. As their conversation grew into a full-out brawl, Norah noticed that the two kindergartners had drifted away from their parents. They were talking, without names and glaring. Norah smiled and nudged Greg as she saw the two kids sneak a quick kiss. She thought she was he only one spying on them, until Nick jumped out of his seat.  
  
"Abby?"  
  
Abby looked at her father innocently. "Yes, daddy?"  
  
"Why were you kissing that boy?" Nick asked.  
  
"Daddy," Abby filled her tiny lungs with air and then let it out. "Me and Matthew are enraged." Matthew whispered something into her ear and she shook her head. "I mean, engaged."  
  
Lydia's expression softened as Nick's grew harder.  
  
"What? How can you be engaged? He's barely old enough to buy his own damn bellybutton lint, let alone an engagement ring."  
  
Now Lydia had jumped up. "Nicholas Stokes! Watch your mouth!" She pulled her husband and her daughter out of the office. She said 'sorry' to Matthew's parents and walked past Norah and Greg. After getting the little girl buckled in she got herself settled into the front seat. "Aren't you happy? Our daughter's in love, Nick."  
  
"She's four-years-old, she doesn't know what love is." Nick scowled.  
  
Abby was too busy singing the Spider Song to care what her parents were talking about.  
  
Lydia shook her head. "It's not like they're REALLY going to get married. Isn't it just cute they like each other?"  
  
Nick sighed and started to think. He finally whispered, "I don't think I can handle loosing my baby."  
  
"You're not loosing a daughter, just gaining a son." Lydia smirked.  
  
Nick shook his head. "I don't think I can handle a cupcake-throwing son-in- law. Can you imagine the food fights at Thanksgiving?"  
  
Lydia laughed for the first time in a long time. 


	7. Wedding Bells?

Chapter Seven:  
  
Wedding Bells?  
  
After a month of being engaged, Greg and Norah finally decided to make their wedding arrangements.  
  
"What's to arrange? We don't want a traditional wedding. Period, mother." Norah shouted toward the phone on the wall. Maybe speakerphone wasn't the best way to do this. She looked at Greg and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Your grandmother isn't going to be happy." The female voice on the other end said.  
  
"Good, she's not invited," Norah told Libby.  
  
The voice got louder. "Norah Elizabeth! She's your grandmother."  
  
"She hates Greg," Norah said, but Greg was too fed up and bored with the mother and daughter, who had been fighting for an hour, to be offended. "Even if I did invite her she wouldn't come."  
  
"That's because it's not going to be a traditional wedding with the whole family."  
  
Norah rested her head on her hands. "Whatever. If she loves me she'll come, even if it's not a boring wedding like every other Stokes'.  
  
"It could be worse, you know," she continued. "We were thinking of getting an Elvis impersonator to marry us." She smiled diabolically. She loved to irk her mother.  
  
Libby let out something of an annoyed grunt. "Look, I have to go. We'll talk about this later."  
  
"Whatever, mom." Norah rolled her eyes.  
  
Libby mocked Norah, "Whatever mom. I want my own kind of wedding. I want to rebel against my family. I want to be original. I don't want a tradition wedding, mom. I don't care if grandma doesn't want to come, she hates my fiancé." Greg couldn't help but laugh at the woman's mocking whines, geared to insult his soon-to-be-wife.  
  
"Yeah, it's real traditional having a kid before you're getting married, huh mom?" Norah glared at the phone and then kicked a hysterical Greg off his stool and sulked more, like a kid throwing a fit.  
  
Greg yelped as he fell to the ground, the kitchen stool falling on top of him. This just made him titter harder.  
  
Norah mom ignored Norah's comment. "Who the hell's laughing like that?" Libby asked.  
  
Norah, still pouting, answered, "Greg."  
  
"What is he, some kind of hyena?"  
  
"Mother!"  
  
Greg laughed harder. "If you think this is bad, you should see Norah - she's looks like a 4-year-old when she pouts."  
  
"She always has." Libby laughed.  
  
Norah let out a frustrated roar. "God! Is no one on my side?" She stomped to her bathroom and slammed the door.  
  
"Let me guess - she locked herself in the bathroom?"  
  
"Yeah." Greg snickered.  
  
Libby and Greg bonded that moment.  
  
Why did Greg always meet the greatest women over the phone? "I'd better try to get her out of there."  
  
"So, October 1st is the day, right?" Libby asked, knowing the answer. She mentally hoped they'd change it.  
  
Greg picked himself up off the floor and straightened the tipped chair up. "Yep."  
  
"Great," Libby said rather unenthusiastically. She hung up the phone without another word.  
  
Greg shrugged and turned off the speakerphone. He knocked on the door of the bathroom.  
  
Norah didn't answer.  
  
Greg abused the door some more.  
  
Still no answer.  
  
"Stop being a baby, Norah." Greg shook his head.  
  
"You're the one who was laughing at her ridiculing me. You're supposed to stick up for me."  
  
Greg rolled his eyes. "It's not that big of a deal, Nor. Seriously." Greg paused a second. "Why do you hate your family? Your mother seems like a great person."  
  
"I don't hate my family. I just want to be my own person and they smother me." Norah rubbed her foot over the tiled floor.  
  
"Maybe we should just have a wedding like she wants." Greg gave in.  
  
"No." She didn't say it harshly, she was sick of screaming. But, she didn't say it nicely; she didn't want to give in.  
  
Greg held his head in annoyance.  
  
Norah opened the door. "I can't believe you would ditch me and our plans for our future. Of all people."  
  
"I'm not, it's just that this is not worth the aggravation."  
  
"We don't have the money for a big wedding." Norah told him.  
  
Greg opened his mouth to say something, but Norah held up her hand to stop him.  
  
"Don't say it. I'm not taking money from my family for this wedding. If they're going to give us money I want it to go for the honeymoon. The wedding doesn't matter to me, it's all about the marriage." Norah nodded.  
  
Greg hated when she sounded all philosophical, mostly because it reminded him of Grissom. "It's just that your mother seems like a nice, funny -"  
  
"It sounds like you have a crush on her." Norah scrunched her nose up in disgust. "How Jerry Springer."  
  
Greg shook his head and snorted.  
  
Norah rolled her eyes and walked to the sink with a glass. "I was being serious." Now she mocked him, "She's so nice and funny. Sigh." She tried her best to look lovestruck.  
  
"I was just being nice." Greg threw his hands up into the air in his defense.  
  
Norah glared. "Maybe next time you should wipe he drool off your chin before you say that."  
  
Greg shook his head. "This wedding crap is really stressing you out."  
  
"Especially since my fiancé is not taking my side."  
  
"I AM on your side." Greg growled in aggravation. "I don't want a big wedding, either, but I don't want your family to hate me because we didn't have one, either."  
  
"We don't we ditch the family and just go to some drive-in wedding chapel," Norah moaned.  
  
Greg sat on a stool. "As long as all this grief is gone, I don't care what we do." He paused a second as the phone rang.  
  
Norah answered it. "Hello?" Pause. "Yeah." Pause. "Oh, hi." Pause. "Is something wrong?" Pause. "Um, okay." Pause. "Me and Greg were just talking about the wedding." Pause. "I think so." Pause. "Okay, see you then. Bye." Click.  
  
Greg looked at Norah's concerned face. "What's up?"  
  
Norah shrugged. "It was Warrick. He said he needed to talk to me."  
  
"Translation: Greg leave."  
  
"It'll only be a few minutes. He's coming over in ten minutes. Go get a pizza or something." Norah was kind of afraid of what Warrick had to say.  
  
-----  
  
"Do you want some coffee?" Norah asked, not even sure she had any to make. She wanted the silence to end as soon as possible.  
  
"No, thanks." Warrick said. He paused a second. "I just wanted to talk to you. We never get to talk anymore."  
  
Some how Norah didn't think this trip was just some friendly talking. Something was up. She felt it.  
  
After a few more seconds of dead air Warrick opened his mouth. "Do you ever think about the baby?"  
  
"What baby?"  
  
Warrick shook his head, wishing he had been more specific the first time. Now he was even more embarrassed. How should he put this? "France." He hoped that would bring back the vivid memories to save him his awkwardness.  
  
Norah started biting her bottom lip. No, not biting. Gnawing. "Sometimes." Her eyes fell to the floor. She couldn't look at him. A pit formed in her stomach. "Do you?"  
  
"More than you could ever know," Warrick truthfully told her. "I always used to wonder what our life would have been like."  
  
She wished he'd stop. She didn't need the stress.  
  
Warrick watched her fidget painfully. "I'm sorry I'm making you uncomfortable. I just need to get these feelings out before you and Greg got married." He stood up. He knew he made a big mistake.  
  
"We should do more stuff together." She didn't want him to leave. "We've barely hung out since I came back to Vegas. Do you want to stay for pizza? Greg went out to get it."  
  
"I don't think -"  
  
She frowned. "Come on. It'll be nice."  
  
'More like awkward as hell,' Warrick thought to himself. "I was going over Nick's to watch a football game with Abby and Nick."  
  
"Oh, okay. Who's playing?" Norah asked.  
  
Warrick blurted out two teams, knowing Norah wouldn't know who they were, let alone if they were actually playing tonight. "The Packers and the Bears."  
  
Norah nodded. "Have fun." She smiled and gave him a hug.  
  
He left without saying anything else.  
  
Norah sunk onto the couch. She felt wretched, but she knew he would find someone else. Someone way more deserving of him than she ever would be.  
  
Five seconds later, Greg came in with the pizza box on his head. He tipped his head down to look at Norah, who had quickly plastered a smile on her face when she saw him. The pizza tumbled off his head. Norah frowned at the cheesy mess on her hardwood floor.  
  
"Sorry," Greg said leaping over it. He grabbed the paper towels off the counter and headed back out into the living room. "How'd it go?"  
  
'Horrible,' she wanted to say, but instead she lied. "Good. It wasn't that important, but he just couldn't wait." She forced her mouth to smile and stood up to help Greg clean up.  
  
"What was it about?" Greg pressed.  
  
"He confided in me, Greg," Norah responded. "Sorry, but I'm going to tell you about his secrets."  
  
Greg rolled his eyes and picked up a handful of pizza in a paper towel and dumped it in the box. Norah wiped up the last bit of sauce and stood up.  
  
"Does my hair smell like pepperoni?" He asked her.  
  
She sniffed the hair of a still kneeling Greg. "No. It smells like peaches." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Have you been using my shampoo?"  
  
Greg's ears turned red. "I ran out so I took a shower over here after work."  
  
"No wonder the floor was wet this morning. I thought the sink was flooding again." Norah shook her head. "The curtain goes INSIDE the tub."  
  
"You're supposed to use the curtain?" Greg joked. "You sound like my dad, Norah."  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. "Come on, Peaches, let's go out for dinner before you have to go to work."  
  
"Nor?" Greg stood up.  
  
She turned toward him. "Yeah?"  
  
"Will you keep the shampoo thing on the down low?" Greg asked. He mentally prayed she wouldn't tell the guys at the lab, especially. Even though Sara and Catherine would give him just as much grief.  
  
"Sure, Peaches. Do you think I would humiliate you like that?" Norah smirked.  
  
Greg's eyebrows raised. "Yes."  
  
"It won't slip, promise. Just be careful when I'm drunk."  
  
Norah had totally forgotten about her conversation with Warrick, which had happened a mere five minutes ago. She laughed as they walked out the door and outside. Until she saw Owen.  
  
"You've got to be freaking kidding me," Norah groaned.  
  
Owen jogged over to her and Greg. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to me so I'll make it short. I'm sorry. And I wish you luck - both of you." He half-smiled at Greg.  
  
"Just one question," Norah started. "What did you mean that one time in the parking lot when you said you knew all about Greg."  
  
Greg looked back and forth between Norah and Owen.  
  
"I'm dating a girl that works at that casino you worked at. She dated him and tells me what a great guy he is...all the time. Apparently we both like green-eyed girls."  
  
Norah looked at Greg and then turned back to Owen.  
  
"Well, congratulations. We have to go." She didn't need anymore issues to deal with today. She pulled Greg to the car by his hand. "Come, Peaches, we have wedding arrangements to attend to." She spoke loud to make a big show of their wedding to Owen.  
  
"I thought there weren't any arrangements to make," Greg whined. He didn't know how much of this wedding crap he could take.  
  
Norah shrugged. "That was before we wanted Elvis. Do you know how booked up that guy gets at this time of year? He's like the Mall Santa of matrimony."  
  
Greg shook his head as he got into the car. Norah rushed into the driver's seat. "Can we move now? I'm sick of him stalking me."  
  
"What are we going to get to eat?"  
  
Norah rubbed her forehead. "That's all you have to say? 'What's for dinner?'" She sighed. "Men."  
  
"Correction: Hungry men." Greg nodded proudly.  
  
"Well, if SOMEONE wasn't testing his balance with the pizza box we'd already be full." Norah said backing out of her parking spot.  
  
Greg turned up the radio and stuck his tongue out at Norah. Norah screamed the words to the song. Greg changed the station. Norah turned the heat up. Greg rolled down the windows. This meaningless fighting continued until they got to some crappy burger-joint. They both got out and Greg ran to the door before Norah and held onto the handle, preventing her entrance. She banged on the door and yelled him some very specific and explicit directions on where he should go. After some time passed, a traffic jam of angry customers started to form. Needless to, say Greg and Norah and four generations after them aren't allowed in that restaurant.  
  
"I'm hungry."  
  
"You said that."  
  
"I'm hungry."  
  
"You said that."  
  
"I'm -"  
  
"GREG!" Norah shouted at him. "You'll get your food when I find a place that sells edible food that neither of us are ban from and not before!"  
  
Greg hung his head. He kept quiet for a minute and thought about the wedding. He wondered if Norah had gotten everything organized, since she was the one rebelling.  
  
Norah stared at the road. She hated the silence but decided not to talk either and just think about he wedding. She wondered if Greg had gotten everything organized, since he was the one taking siding against her.  
  
The moral of this story: Communication is key. 


	8. One Big Day

Chapter Eight: One Big Day  
  
Finally, the day had come. They postponed it for a week after the original date because of what Norah and Greg said to be "back-up at the chapel." Which, loosely translated, meant "I was too lazy and stubborn to do anything or to check with the other if they had done anything either."  
  
The wedding was short and to the point. The guest list was short compared to Nick and Lydia's wedding: Nick, Lydia, Abby, Catherine, Lindsey, Libby, Norah's sister Mandy, Greg's parents, Norah's grandmother, Grissom, Warrick, Sara, and Brass.  
  
Afterward, everyone was invited after for a "reception" at Norah's wedding, although some of the guests didn't come. Greg's parents couldn't stay because the only flight back to California was right after the wedding. Brass left, too. He didn't give a reason and they didn't ask. Warrick had to leave, saying he had to meet up with a friend and some bar. And Norah's family, minus Mandy, left because they didn't want to be with Norah. Especially her grandmother, who was still mad that basically no one in their family was invited to the party and departed with the last words of "your cousin Gina and Aunt Isabel wanted to come to the wedding."  
  
"Grandma, Gina's my, like, fifteenth cousin four-times removed. I've met her ONCE." Norah shook her head.  
  
Libby smiled. "Nice wedding, seriously. I'm glad you had a small wedding. No Aunt Paula pinching cheeks."  
  
Norah knew she said that just because she wanted to make up for their "wedding planning" fight, but she forgave her. "Bye, mom." She waved as they left in a cab in the direction of the airport. She went back inside to her apartment.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Henry?" Grissom looked at Greg in confusion.  
  
Greg shrugged at the cake. "It's the only one we could get on such short notice. It's a nice cake and Henry never picked it up."  
  
"His loss," Abby nodded and stuck her finger in the cake and then licked it.  
  
Lydia shouted at Abby, "Abigail, leave the cake alone."  
  
Abby jumped off the stool to join Lindsey, the official photographer, snapping candid photos of everyone.  
  
"Sara!"  
  
Sara turned and Lindsey took a picture and then skipped away, leaving Sara with spots in her eyes complaining about how bad she was going to look in the picture.  
  
Abby giggled. "Can I try, Lindsey?"  
  
She thought about it for a second. "Okay."  
  
Lindsey handed Abby the camera and Abby crawled under the coffee table. She clicked a picture of Nick eating some pizza, grease dripping down his chin.  
  
"Hey! Abby, I'm eating," Nick whined.  
  
"Sorry, daddy." Abby smiled and rolled out from under the table.  
  
Lindsey grinned. "That was a good one!"  
  
The two girls ran off together as the adults started to talk in the living room.  
  
"Norah was always the odd one," Mandy exposed. "At a family reunion once, she boycotted horseshoes because she was afraid the horses would be mad. And she just laid under the tables at any family gathering. People would rest their feet on her. She hated interacting with her family."  
  
Norah shook her head. "That was Samantha, Uncle John's daughter!"  
  
Nick laughed. "No way. That was you!"  
  
"Do we have to talk about this?" Norah rolled her eyes.  
  
Just then a stream of giggles came from the kitchen, then a loud "Shh!"  
  
Lydia and Catherine got up when they discovered their daughters were missing. Norah followed them into the kitchen. The two girls were covered in frosting and knelt next to a half-frosted cake.  
  
Norah laughed and Catherine was surprised that two girls as little as them could eat that much frosting and prayed Lindsey wouldn't get sick.  
  
But Lydia, on the other hand, freaked out. She was embarrassed and mad at Abby. How could she do this? "Abigail Hope Stokes, I told you once to leave the cake be and now you've ruined it."  
  
"Lydia, it's fine. Really." Norah helped Lindsey off the counter and led her to the bathroom, carrying Abby.  
  
Lydia walked back into the living room.  
  
"What happened?" Sara asked from the couch.  
  
Catherine shrugged and returned to her chair. "The girls ate all the frosting off the cake."  
  
Greg pouted. "That's the best part of the cake!"  
  
"I can't believe Abby did that!" Lydia shouted.  
  
Catherine tried to calm Lydia down. "She's only five."  
  
"Chill out, super-spaz! It's only a cake." Nick shook his head.  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I thought I taught her better, but no! She's gotten into trouble way too much lately. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" She stormed out of the apartment to take a walk.  
  
Nick groaned and rushed after her.  
  
"Man, this is becoming more and more eventful by the second." Greg said. "Mom would have loved this!"  
  
Mandy, Grissom, Catherine, and Sara shook their heads.  
  
When Norah returned to the living room with the two girls, who were now frosting-free, she noticed two of her guests were missing. "Oh, boy."  
  
Lydia threw herself onto the grass and cried. "Why am I a horrible mother, Nick? Why?"  
  
Nick sat next to her. "Lydia, you're not a bad mother you just get mad too easily. If you get angry every time she takes a breath, she's never going to tell you anything when she's older." He ran his fingers through her hair. "That's what happened to Norah and her mother. They barely talk any-"  
  
She pulled away from him.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Nick asked.  
  
"Nick, sometimes I wonder if you really love me. I'm sick of coming second for everything. If it's not work it's Norah or Abby. What about your wife? Your WIFE, Nick." Lydia sat up.  
  
Nick stared at her. "If I didn't love you do you think I'd be with you right now? If I didn't love you I would have been embarrassed by you yelling, but I do. Because you're the best wife - and mother - any family could ask for."  
  
Lydia smiled faintly. "Umm, Nick? I have something to tell you."  
  
Nick looked at her. "Yes?"  
  
"I'm having another baby." She started again to cry. "Nick, I don't think I can handle another baby."  
  
Nick looked at her and smiled. "Lydia, that's great! You're a great mother!"  
  
She smiled. "I hope you're right."  
  
"I am," Nick said. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"  
  
"I was scared about being a bad mother," Lydia said honestly.  
  
Nick took her hands in his. "Just remember that I support you. And Abby does, too. Make sure you take her to the doctors with you. I think she'd love to see the sonogram happen."  
  
"Hopefully she won't knock something over." Lydia smiled.  
  
Nick laughed. "I promise this time, I won't miss a thing.  
  
"Come on let's go back before something else happens," Nick said while pulling Lydia up with him. "Wouldn't want to miss anything else at THIS reception."  
  
Her smile grew as they walked back into the apartment to find Greg, Abby, and Lindsey doing the Chicken Dance in the living room for their audience on the couch. When they were done, everyone clapped and they bowed.  
  
Abby noticed that her parents had come into the room. She ran to her mom. "I'm sorry for making you mad, mommy."  
  
The audience then joined in unison, "Aww."  
  
Abby bowed again. "Thank you, thank you!" She hugged her mom.  
  
"I want cake!" Greg said.  
  
"Greg, there is no cake." Grissom explained.  
  
Greg nodded. "I know. But that doesn't mean I don't still want it."  
  
Grissom rose his eyebrows and said nothing more.  
  
Norah watched Abby as she yawned. She, too, was extremely tired. The day had drained everyone. Norah's exhaustion was physical, while Lydia's was more emotional. She mentally hoped Lydia would feel better soon, mostly to keep her daughter in good health. How can you take care of a very energetic five-year-old when you aren't happy with yourself?  
  
Within an hour everyone but Lydia, Nick, Mandy and Abby had left.  
  
Greg whispered something into Norah's ear. She nodded and kissed him quickly. "Guys, we have an announcement to make." She took a deep breath and continued. "Greg and I are having a baby."  
  
"Well, she's having it I just helped by giving some sperm and sharing 23 of my 46 chromosomes." Greg nodded.  
  
Abby squealed. "I'm going to be a big second cousin!"  
  
Nick and Lydia quickly congratulated them and then smiled at each other, silently acknowledging to themselves the fact that they, too, were expecting.  
  
"And I'm going to be an aunt!" Mandy smiled, hugging Abby.  
  
"Yay for us!" Abby shouted.  
  
"Us?" Greg cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't help to make this baby."  
  
Abby shook her head. "Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg."  
  
"Yes, Abby, Abby, Abby, Abby, Abby?"  
  
Abby rolled her eyes and continued, "Have you forgotten so quickly? I DID help. I'm the one who told you were babies come from! Duh!" 


	9. A Tale of Two Cities

Chapter Nine: A Tale of Two Cities  
  
"How is it up there?" Mandy asked into the phone, stuffing her face with Norah's food.  
  
"Cold," Norah said bitterly.  
  
Greg frowned.  
  
"But, it's really pretty." Norah smiled at Greg.  
  
Abby, who was on a sugar high, jumped on the couch and watched Mandy. "Why exactly are you here?"  
  
Mandy covered the bottom half of the phone. "To watch her fish, or something." Mandy shrugged.  
  
Abby raised her eyebrows. "Um, Cousin Amanda?" She pointed to the fishbowl with the little orange blob floating at the top.  
  
"Whoops," Mandy said a little too loud, remembering that she forgot to feed the fish.  
  
"Whoops?" Norah said into the phone.  
  
Mandy bit her lip. "Mr. Boomer or whatever..."  
  
"Mr. Bubbles?" Norah squinted.  
  
"Yeah, he died." Mandy shrugged again.  
  
"What's wrong with Mr. Bubbles?" Greg asked.  
  
"It's just a fish," Mandy groaned.  
  
Abby repeated Mandy in the same nonchalant manor. "Just a fish."  
  
Greg took the phone from a crying Norah. "She loved Mr. Bubbles like a brother." Greg shook his head in shame.  
  
Mandy rolled her eyes. "You two are perfect for each other. Drama queen and king."  
  
Greg bought Mr. Bubbles on her first day at her new job." Abby filled Mandy in.  
  
Mandy still felt no sympathy. She got up from the couch and rummaged through the cupboards. "Hey, ask Norah if she has any popcorn. I really want some popcorn."  
  
"You're so insensitive!" Greg hung up the phone.  
  
"Finally. I thought she'd never get off the phone." Norah crawled deeper under the covers and kissed Greg's bare chest.  
  
"Just call me Greg the Exterminator."  
  
"If only you were around ten years ago when I had mountains of homework and a 10-year-old sister on my back every night." Norah smiled.  
  
Greg sighed. "I can relate."  
  
Norah cocked an eyebrow. "You don't have siblings, Greg."  
  
"No, but I had parents." Greg nodded.  
  
Norah laughed and shook her head. "I don't think it's quite the same, Peaches."  
  
"You obviously don't know my parents too well."  
  
Norah buried her head into her pillow. Most newlyweds go to the Bahamas or Hawaii, especially in October, but Greg and Norah chose Niagara Falls, Canada. Norah was positive it was the coldest place on Earth.  
  
Greg got off the plane and shivered. "It's freezing!"  
  
"It's pretty north, Peaches," Norah said. She linked her arm in his. "It's Canada," she stated rather unenthusiastically.  
  
Norah snapped back into the present.  
  
"What do you think the baby's going to look like?" Greg asked.  
  
"You're the DNA guy. You tell me."  
  
Greg turned from his position on his back toward her. "Pick out the dominant genes."  
  
"My hair color, your eyes," Norah said.  
  
Greg frowned. "I hope she has your eyes."  
  
She played with Greg's hand. "Why? I hate my eyes. I wanted blue eyes when I was younger."  
  
"Green's much sexier in my opinion." Greg kissed her.  
  
"You're a dork."  
  
"Why?" Greg asked.  
  
"I don't know." She shrugged. "But, it's sexy," she mocked him.  
  
"I may be a dork, but you're the bitch." Greg stuck out his tongue.  
  
Norah shook her head. "If you think this is bad, wait 'till we move into the house."  
  
They'd found a house. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, hardwood floors, and a tree in the backyard. Norah thought it was perfect. Greg didn't care, he was just happy to be getting out of the hellhole he called an apartment.  
  
"Let's play Questions," Norah suggested. Questions was a game where they each asked one serious question about anything. Norah thought it could get them talking about things they might not usually talk about. Greg just liked asking stupid, definitely not serious questions to make Norah mad. He personally thought it was stupid in itself.  
  
"You first," Greg looked at her and pondered about his question silently.  
  
Norah closed her eyes a second. "What do you want our baby to grow up to be?"  
  
"A chemist, of course." He grinned. Greg grew quiet when he saw Norah anticipating her question. "Do you want to meet your dad at all?"  
  
This question took Norah by surprise, she was sure he'd ask another stupid question like, "Do my feet smell?" That was followed by Norah shouting about the need for the question to be serious. Then Greg would smile to himself and tell her he WAS serious.  
  
"I've never really thought about it. Maybe just meet him once, not really establish a father-daughter bond or something," Norah sat up and hugged her legs.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Norah turned to the wall. "One serious question per person per game."  
  
Greg sat up and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"A relationship should have been made when I was a kid. When I needed him," Norah explained.  
  
Greg scooted over to the side of the hotel bed Norah was on. "Sorry."  
  
Tears rolled down Norah's cheeks. Real tears this time. Hot, angry tears. But her anger wasn't toward Greg, like he thought.  
  
She couldn't figure out how someone could hate his or her own flesh and blood the way she thought that her father hated her. She didn't know much about him; she asked, but got no answers. She made up an image of him. She pictured him as a monstrous man with green eyes as piercing as hers. That's one thing she knew about him for sure; he had green eyes. She didn't get them from her mother. Every time she passed someone with green eyes she couldn't help but wonder if it was him.  
  
Norah wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to go home, but most of all, she wanted to get the image of her father out of her mind.  
  
"Good night, Greg." Norah curled up and pulled the covers up to her chin.  
  
Greg frowned, still thinking she was mad at him. He kissed her cheek and turned off the lights before crawling next to her and wrapping his arms around her. "Night, Nor," he whispered, even though she was already asleep.  
  
Meanwhile, 3 time zones and 2,323 miles away, Nick and Lydia came to pick up their daughter...  
  
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" A hyperactive Abby said, jumping around the room.  
  
Lydia looked at Mandy. "What did you do to my daughter?"  
  
Nick glared at Lydia.  
  
Lydia glared back.  
  
Mandy gave Abby more sugar.  
  
Abby bounced off the walls even more.  
  
Lydia shook her head. "Abby, Daddy and I have something to tell you."  
  
Abby calmed down a little bit. "Yes?"  
  
"Mommy's having a baby," Nick told her.  
  
Abby stared blankly at them.  
  
Mandy smiled. "That's great, guys! Isn't that great, Abby?"  
  
"No."  
  
Lydia's smile faded.  
  
Abby pouted. "I don't want a brother or sister! Matthew has a little sister and she cries every night at 13 o' clock to 20 o' clock. That's a lot of o' clocks!"  
  
"Our baby won't do that, I promise." Nick nodded.  
  
"Will it poop?" Abby asked.  
  
Lydia nodded. "Yes, everyone poops, Abby."  
  
"Send the baby back," she chanted. She stomped around the room pouting.  
  
Nick scooped Abby up in his strong arms and carried her out of Norah's apartment. Lydia thanked Mandy briefly and followed them.  
  
Mandy shrugged and picked the popcorn out of her teeth.  
  
---  
  
"Where do you want to go today?" Greg asked her, sitting on the bed.  
  
'Home,' she wanted to answer. "Do you want to just walk down to the Falls one more time?" They had three hours until their flight back to Vegas, but Greg wanted to do everything he hadn't and Norah just wanted to get back to her life, in warm, sunny Las Vegas.  
  
The October air rushed in as Greg led Norah outside the hotel. Norah shivered and stuffed her hands into her coat pockets.  
  
Greg put his hand on her hip and pulled her closer to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, referring to the morning sickness that struck her earlier that day.  
  
Norah shrugged and moved even closer to him, half-hoping she'd get warmer. "Better, I guess."  
  
"Good." Greg rubbed her shoulder with his hand bunched up in his sleeve, making a nylon-against-nylon sound.  
  
Norah put her head on his shoulder as they came to a railing. They watched the water spill over the cliffs, which would have caused a rainbow on any given day with some sun, which this wasn't. It was still beautiful.  
  
"We should bring the baby here...when she's born." Greg said, looking at Norah's stomach.  
  
Norah shrugged a bit. "I'd prefer Hawaii, but whatever makes your Jell-O jiggle."  
  
He held her closer. "What about names?"  
  
"Melody." Norah suggested.  
  
"Lucy," Greg said.  
  
Norah glared. "I like Melody."  
  
"I don't."  
  
Norah pulled away from him. "Who's carrying this baby for nine months? Who's giving this baby nutrients through her bellybutton? Who's vagina is this baby coming out of?"  
  
"I helped make this baby, don't I get a say?" Greg asked.  
  
"Umm, no. You aren't going through this pain so that's my final answer." Norah walked back towards the hotel.  
  
"I'm calling our baby Lucy no matter what," Greg yelled.  
  
"In that case, I hope it's a boy! I'm sure he'd love that, Peaches!" She shouted back.  
  
He walked after her. "Why don't we think up a name we both like, okay?"  
  
She gave in, only because she hated fighting with him. They stayed in the room the remaining hour-and-a-half compiling a list of names. They came up with Kaylee and Toby.  
  
They climbed into the car they rented at the Buffalo airport, which they barely used in the two weeks they were there.  
  
"How does it feel like to be pregnant?" Greg smiled.  
  
Norah's eyes were closed. "Irritating."  
  
Greg frowned.  
  
"I have to go to the bathroom."  
  
"You just went ten minutes ago." Greg whined. They had barely gone 2 miles, and now she wanted to stop?  
  
Norah opened one eye. "One of those great pregnancy things. Please, before we get onto the Rainbow bridge! I'm going to pee my pants, man!"  
  
Greg pulled parked in front of a restaurant. Norah got out and walked in. After a nearly twenty minutes she walked back out with a cheeseburger.  
  
An irate Greg shot Norah a look.  
  
Norah shrugged. "I was hungry...want some?"  
  
"No, but you're going to get sick." Greg said matter-of-factly.  
  
"And when did you become an obstetrician?" Norah said licking her fingers.  
  
Greg rolled his eyes as he drove back toward the Rainbow Bridge. "I did some research, and greasy foods can cause morning sickness."  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Mom." Norah said. She was feeling queasy but wouldn't admit it to him. They crossed the border and Norah felt even more nauseated, especially as the roads got bumpier. "Man, do I love Upstate New York," she thought aloud.  
  
"Feeling sick, Norah?" Greg asked dryly.  
  
Norah grit her teeth. "Feeling lucky, Greg? Here's some advice: Don't make a pregnant woman with morning sickness angry."  
  
Greg smiled to himself, proud that he was right. He pulled into a McDonald's and Norah ran in. Five minutes later a pale Norah climbed back into the car. "Told you so."  
  
Norah said nothing. She stared directly in front of her. She didn't know how much more she could take of this pregnancy thing, which is pretty bad because she was only about a month into pregnancy. She didn't know how much of Greg she could take, which is really bad because they were only two weeks into marriage. She didn't know how much of the North she could take, which was kind of bad because they were only about 3 miles into the 28-mile trip to the airport. Norah felt tired all of a sudden. She started to crawl into the back seat of the rental, as Greg was driving.  
  
"What are you doing?" He asked, swerving to avoid cars.  
  
Norah said nothing. When she successfully reached the back she laid down, resting her head on the seat and curling up into a ball.  
  
Greg looked at her through the rearview mirror occasionally. He gently shook her when they'd gotten to the airport's rental car return.  
  
Norah said nothing. She slid out of the car and grabbed her bag from the open trunk. She walked into the airport as Greg took care of the car.  
  
"Ready?" He asked as they went though the metal detectors.  
  
Norah said nothing. She picked up her carry-on and walked toward the gates.  
  
Greg followed her. He handed the women their tickets and walked with Norah onto the plane. He took her bag and shoved it in the over-head compartment for her. "There we go." He smiled.  
  
Norah said nothing. She took the seat next to the window. She stared out the window at the runway.  
  
"I hate traveling. It's so far away from home." Greg said, trying to make conversation.  
  
Norah said nothing. She didn't look away from the window, either. She buckled her seatbelt when the stewardess told her to.  
  
They flew to Vegas in silence, even though Greg tried many times to get her to talk. When they stepped out of the Las Vegas airport, Nick was there to pick them up. He smiled at them.  
  
"How was your trip?"  
  
Norah said nothing.  
  
Greg smiled back. "Good."  
  
Nick looked at Norah and then back at Greg. He didn't ask any questions until they got to Norah's apartment. She went into her apartment and Greg stayed in the car.  
  
"What did you do?" Nick asked him.  
  
Greg acted shocked. "Nothing! Why would you assume I did something?"  
  
Nick rolled his eyes. "The only time she shuts up is when she's sad or mad."  
  
"Oh, she wasn't talking? I didn't notice," Greg lied.  
  
Nick rose his eyebrows.  
  
Greg sighed. "I said I was right about her getting sick from a cheeseburger she had to eat."  
  
"Dude, you're an idiot." Nick stated.  
  
Greg nodded. "Well, what do I do to get her to talk to me, now?"  
  
Nick thought for a second. "Do something romantic. Chicks like romantic stuff." Nick thought back to when he proposed to Lydia, complete with rose petals on the floor and bed. Nick was still finding petals.  
  
"I'm not a romantic person, give me some ideas," Greg begged.  
  
"I have one piece of advice: Ask Lindsey."  
  
-----  
  
Greg knocked on Catherine's door.  
  
Catherine opened the door. "Greg? Come in."  
  
"Can I talk to Lindsey, Catherine? It's a romantic emergency," Greg pleaded as he stepped into her house.  
  
Catherine looked at Greg oddly.  
  
Lindsey poked her head from behind the kitchen wall. "Did someone say 'romantic emergency'?"  
  
Greg took her hand and pulled her out onto her porch.  
  
Catherine blinked her eyes a couple of times before closing the door in bewilderment.  
  
After a few minutes of discussion Lindsey had an idea. "Well, we can't do rose petals, that's getting old. So, how about..." Her mouth curled into a smile. "I've got it! Bring Norah here at 8, tell her you need to baby-sit me and I'm begging for her because...I need help with my homework! Everything will be perfect. Just get her here, I'll work out the rest." She ran inside.  
  
Greg stood up and wiped his butt off.  
  
Catherine opened the door. "What exactly does it mean when you need romantic help from a twelve-year-old?" She smirked.  
  
"You try having a wife that's stopped talking to you and you've only been married for two weeks," Greg told her. "Make sure her ideas have been executed perfectly, Catherine. She's my only hope."  
  
"If it's one thing I've learn from men, it's that half of them are pathetic slobs."  
  
"We love you, too, Cath." Greg smiled, while walking to his car. 


	10. Let the Romance Begin

Chapter Ten:  
  
Let the Romance Begin  
  
Norah's phone rang. "Hello?"  
  
"Norah, it's Greg."  
  
Norah fell silent.  
  
"It's nice to talk to you, too. I have to watch Linds and Cat called me to tell me she needs your help on her homework, can you come?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Great, I'll pick you up in five minutes. Be ready."  
  
Silence.  
  
"I love you, too. Bye."  
  
Norah hung up.  
  
Five minutes later, Greg was knocking on her door.  
  
Norah opened it and walked out, without even glancing at Greg. She walked out to his car and stared out the passenger-side window.  
  
Greg climbed in the driver's seat and drove toward Catherine's house. He parked and led Norah to the front door, which opened the moment they stepped up to the porch.  
  
"Welcome to Le Restaurant dans la Maison, the best sandwich-slash-French restaurant on this street," Lindsey said. She was dressed up nicely and had a mock nametag taped to her chest that said "Lindsey" in blue crayon.  
  
Norah tried to translate. "The Restaurant in the House?"  
  
Lindsey smiled with pride.  
  
"I thought you didn't know any French," Greg said to Norah.  
  
Norah looked and him and then back at Lindsey with a smile.  
  
"You two must be the Sanders'. Please follow me." She closed the door and led them to her dining room. There were two places set and pieces of paper were set on top of the plates. There were candles and a bottle of sparkling grape juice next to two champagne glasses.  
  
Norah couldn't help but smile.  
  
Lindsey thought about her mother's rule about shoes in the house. "May I take your shoes? Your waiter will be out in a moment."  
  
Norah took her shoes off and gave them to Lindsey.  
  
Greg took of his sneakers and handed them to Lindsey, too. Lindsey's nose scrunched up with disgust. "If you don't mind a suggestion, sir. I think you should get some air freshener for that stench."  
  
Greg pouted.  
  
Lindsey walked out of the dining room with the arm full of shoes.  
  
Greg pulled out a chair for Norah.  
  
She walked past him and sat at the other place.  
  
Greg shrugged and sat down.  
  
Moments later, Lindsey returned. She now wore a white shirt and black pants and had an apron on. She had a moustache of eyeliner gracing her upper lip and her hair was now slicked back and tied into a bun low on her head. "Bonjour, I am Jacques and I'll be your waiter today." She picked up the grape juice and carefully poured some for both of them. "Can I get you something to eat?"  
  
"I think we need a few more minutes, Linds - I mean Jacques." Greg said picking up his "menu."  
  
Lindsey nodded and turned on her heels. She headed toward the kitchen.  
  
Norah looked over her menu, which was written in blue marker. It listed some food a kid could make like 'grilled cheese' and 'peanut butter and jelly sandwich.' She smiled.  
  
"Do you know what you want, honey?"  
  
Norah didn't answer Greg.  
  
"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Greg smiled weakly. "Jacques!" He snapped his fingers.  
  
Catherine popped her head in thought the kitchen door. "Jacques is taking his break, she - er, he will be there in a moment." She disappeared again.  
  
Within a minute Lindsey was back at Norah and Greg's table. "Are you ready to order now, Madame et Monsieur?"  
  
"Oui, oui." Greg nodded.  
  
"The bathroom's down the hall, Monsieur Sanders," Lindsey smiled.  
  
Norah laughed.  
  
Greg rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but chuckle.  
  
Lindsey bounced on her heels impatiently. "Can I take your orders?"  
  
"Hold on, Jacques, I have to check with my doctor to see if it's okay to have what I want." Norah turned to Greg. "Is peanut butter and jelly too greasy, Dr. Mom? Will it give me morning sickness?" She asked bitterly.  
  
Lindsey shrugged and scribbled something down on a star-shaped pad of paper.  
  
Greg ignored Norah. "I'll have P.B., hold the J."  
  
Lindsey wrote something else on her paper and nodded. "This will take but a moment." She went into the kitchen.  
  
Norah and Greg sat in silence, just scowling at the table.  
  
A couple of whispers came from the kitchen a long with a lot of clanging of plates together.  
  
Norah looked down at her watch.  
  
Greg yawned. After a few more minutes of dead air, he finally opened his mouth. "Can you pass me the grape juice?"  
  
Norah slid the grape juice across the table at him.  
  
Lindsey came out of the kitchen and placed a plate of chips between them, as well as a smaller plate with two pickles.  
  
"What kind of pickles are these, Jacques?" Greg asked Lindsey.  
  
Lindsey thought for a second. "The green kind?" Her face scrunched in confusion.  
  
Norah giggled.  
  
"I'll go check with the chef." She hurried into the kitchen and then back out. "Dill, Monsieur Sanders."  
  
"Merci," Greg answered.  
  
Lindsey went back though the kitchen door.  
  
Norah reached for the chips.  
  
"I don't think those would be good for your morning sickness," Greg said softly. He expected her yelling at him that she could eat anything she liked.  
  
Instead she kept quiet and reached for a pickle. She stared at the table as she ate it in silence.  
  
Greg ate a few chips. "I guess those four years in France finally paid off, huh?" He smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." She half-smiled.  
  
Lindsey came out of the kitchen again, balancing a plate on one of her hands, her arm above her shoulder, her other in front of her, draped with a towel. She set the plate on the table and picked up the peanut butter sandwich and placed it on Greg's plate and did the same for Norah's sandwich.  
  
"Thanks," Greg and Norah said in unison.  
  
They smiled at each other for a moment until Norah looked down at her sandwich. She bit into it, keeping her eyes on the table.  
  
"I'm sorry, Norah," Greg blurted out.  
  
Norah stopped chewing and looked up at him.  
  
"Honestly. Do you forgive me?"  
  
Norah nodded. That's all she was really hoping to get out of this talking strike, anyway. She smiled at him and started eating the rest of her sandwich.  
  
Greg didn't shut up though; "I just don't want you to be puking all over the place, you know?"  
  
Norah grimaced. "Greg! I'm eating."  
  
"Sorry." He inhaled his sandwich and gulped down the rest of his juice. "Jacques!" He snapped his fingers again.  
  
Lindsey came out into the dining room, peanut butter smeared across her face. "Oui?"  
  
"May we have our bill? We'd like to go now," Greg told her.  
  
Norah looked down at the half a sandwich she still had on her plate. "I'm not done."  
  
"And a doggie bag, too?" Greg said to Lindsey.  
  
Lindsey returned to the kitchen.  
  
"What's the rush?" Norah asked him.  
  
"I think we should start packing, and stuff." He smiled.  
  
Norah shook her head and picked up the second half of her sandwich. She took a bite before Lindsey came out with a brown paper bag and snatched it from her.  
  
She also placed the "bill" face down on the table in front of Greg.  
  
Greg ignored it and pulled Norah out into the front hall. Catherine came out with Lindsey.  
  
"Thanks for dinner, guys." Norah smiled.  
  
"You're welcome," Lindsey said.  
  
Greg put on his shoes and reached for the doorknob.  
  
"Monsieur Sanders?" Lindsey looked at Greg.  
  
Greg turned to her. "Yeah, Lindsey?"  
  
"Lindsey? You must be mistaken, my name is Jacques." Lindsey continued, "Where's your bill, monsieur? I don't think you've paid."  
  
Greg rolled his eyes. "I said 'thanks,' what more do you want?"  
  
"Bernard!"  
  
Nick came out of the kitchen and grabbed Greg by the collar. "We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way."  
  
"Okay, jeez, I'll pay." He then realized he didn't have his wallet. "Bernard, I must have forgotten my money-o in my car-o."  
  
"Then you'll have lots of fun washing the dishes." Nick smiled and pushed Greg into the kitchen.  
  
Greg frowned. "This isn't funny anymore, guys."  
  
"My services don't come cheap," Lindsey quipped.  
  
While Nick, Lindsey, Catherine, and Norah sat in the living room, Greg scrubbed the peanut butter off the plates.  
  
"So he came over begging for Lindsey's quote-on-quote 'romantic advice'." Catherine laughed.  
  
The other three laughed, too.  
  
Greg came out of the kitchen. He frowned and slid the yellow gloves off his hands. "I'm finished."  
  
Norah stood up and walked towards the door. "Bye guys."  
  
"Yeah, bye guys." Greg rolled his eyes. "Thanks. I haven't washed dishes since I was in 5th grade. You should really invest in a dishwasher."  
  
"Or we could just hire you," Catherine joked.  
  
"Maybe you should check your pockets before you come into a restaurant, especially Le Restaurant dans la Maison." Lindsey smiled.  
  
Greg stuck out his tongue. "I'd really like to talk to the manager about the menu." He watched Nick and Norah slip on their shoes and then followed them out, saying one last good-bye to the Willows'.  
  
Nick backed up as Norah and Greg put on their seat belts. "Thanks, Greg. This was fun. Sorry I was so stubborn on the way home."  
  
"It's my fault, Nor. You forgive me, right?"  
  
"Of course," Norah smiled.  
  
After Greg backed up out of the driveway he looked over at Norah. "Do you remember the day we met?"  
  
Norah laughed. "Yes."  
  
"Why are you laughing?" Greg eyed her.  
  
Norah grinned. "Because you were such a dork back then. Oh wait, nothing's changed."  
  
Greg rolled his eyes.  
  
"You were hitting on me over the phone. It was quite funny," Norah told him.  
  
"I thought you were one of Nick's girlfriends and I was set on stealing you from him."  
  
"You are such a dork!" Norah giggled.  
  
Greg parked in the parking lot of Norah's apartment. He didn't want to go home. His house was full of boxes and it was hard to even breathe in there. He took Norah's hand and led her up to her apartment.  
  
She flipped on the lights. Mandy, who was sleeping on the couch, moaned and covered her eyes. "Oh, sorry, Mand. I forgot you were even here."  
  
"I can see how much I'm loved, now can I go back to sleep?" She whined.  
  
Norah turned off the lights again and her and Greg stumbled to her bedroom in the dark. She laid down and Greg laid next to her. Norah was so tired she didn't even want to get into her pajamas. She curled up with her jeans and stripped polo shirt on.  
  
Greg went to unbutton her pants.  
  
Norah turned away from him. "Not now, baby. I'm tired."  
  
He frowned. "You're always too tired or sick," Greg whined.  
  
"I thought you did research on pregnancy. It's part of being pregnant, I can't help it." She kissed Greg and curled back up.  
  
Greg held her and thought about how much having a baby is unfair to the father. 


	11. Nine Crazy Months

Chapter Eleven: Nine Crazy Months  
  
Norah took a deep breath after the nurse called her name. She hated going the doctors. She got up and followed the nurse into the hall.  
  
The rather manly-looking nurse pointed to the scale and Norah hopped up on it. The nurse recorded her weight. She twirled her finger and Norah turned around. The nurse recorded her height.  
  
The nurse led Norah into a tiny room. She took her blood pressure and pulse.  
  
Norah waited and waited and waited after the nurse left, until the doctor came in. He was a man who looked to be a bit older than Norah, quite handsome.  
  
"Hello, I'm Dr. Koss." The man reached his hand out.  
  
Norah shook it and introduced herself also.  
  
He asked her about her last period and told her about what was going to happen today. "Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions, just try to answer honestly."  
  
Norah nodded.  
  
"Have you ever given birth to a child before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Have you ever had any miscarriages before?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Abortions?"  
  
Norah took a deep breath. "Yes."  
  
The doctor nodded and jotted something down on her file. "When was that?"  
  
Norah thought for a second. "I think about eight years ago."  
  
The rest of the visit was much like a normal physical, with the exception of the blood sample he took.  
  
"I'll see you in about a month then, Norah." He smiled.  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Koss." She got dressed after he left the room and headed out to the front desk to make her next appointment.  
  
-----  
  
"He says that the baby's due June 4th," Norah told Mandy and Greg, who were watching her eat crackers.  
  
"He?" Greg asked.  
  
Norah stuffed another cracker in her mouth. "Yeah. Dr. Koss...who else have I been talking about for the past 15 minutes?" She shook her head. "The guy's amazing."  
  
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you going to a guy doctor," Greg told her.  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. "Too late now. Anyway, you have to come to the twelfth week one! We get to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time."  
  
Mandy smiled. "That's great. I'm so happy for you guys. You and Lydia and Nick!"  
  
"I know. Abby's great," Greg said dryly.  
  
"She is. But, I'm happy for their other baby," Mandy said.  
  
Norah stopped chewing her cracker and looked at Greg. "We didn't hear about any new baby."  
  
"Oops." Mandy bit her lip.  
  
-----  
  
Nick, Lydia and Abby had shown up just after Lindsey was dropped off to help Norah's already-packed stuff get moved to her new house.  
  
"I'll take these. Abby, help mommy pick up these two boxes," Nick instructed.  
  
Norah gasped. "Lydia can't pick up boxes in her condition!"  
  
Lydia looked around. "What condition?"  
  
Norah pointed to her stomach.  
  
Nick and Lydia turned to Mandy.  
  
"It slipped, guys." Mandy frowned.  
  
"I'm SO glad that we tell each other everything," Norah said with sarcasm. "Who was the first one I told when I found out I was pregnant?"  
  
Greg looked at her. "I thought I was."  
  
Norah rolled her eyes. "The second people I told." She picked up some light boxes and carried them out to Nick's Tahoe. She repeated this several times before Nick could finally get her to stop.  
  
"We're really sorry, Nor. It's just that we wanted you to feel special when you told us about your baby and we hadn't even told Abby 'till you guys were on your trip," Lydia explained.  
  
"Well we have been back for a week now!" Norah felt used. She thought Nick was one of her best friends.  
  
Nick butted in. "We're sorry."  
  
Norah shrugged. "Whatever." She picked up some more boxes and brought them outside to the car.  
  
-----  
  
"Honey, we're going to be late!" Norah shouted into the house that she had grown to hate. She felt it was too big, Greg loved it. Sometimes, she thought he loved it more than her.  
  
Greg hopped into the hall from the living room, he was trying to put on his shoes and do his hair at the same time. "Coming."  
  
Norah shook her head and laughed. She was really nervous for her twelfth week doctors visit. Mostly because she had gained almost ten pounds since her last visit, which was only a month ago. She had also started showing; her stomach had grown about twice its size. She was afraid it wasn't healthy for the baby.  
  
She grabbed Greg's hand and walked out to his car. She squeezed his hand before she let it go to get in on the passenger's side.  
  
"What's wrong? You're so quiet," Greg observed.  
  
Norah shrugged. "I'm just nervous."  
  
"It'll be fine." Greg smiled.  
  
Norah didn't think so, but she exchanged smiles with him anyway. When they finally got there, Norah checked in. They were a little late so she hoped it wouldn't be too long of a wait.  
  
And it wasn't, only about ten minutes.  
  
The same nurse that had been there the past two times she went called her name and she went through their regular routine: height, weight, blood pressure, pulse. And then she dropped her and Greg into a room full of monitors and such.  
  
Norah climbed onto the table as best she could. She could barely sleep anymore because she couldn't curl up into her normal sleeping position because of her expanding stomach; she swore people could tell too, she had bags under her eyes everyday going into school.  
  
The doctor came in after another ten minutes of anticipation. "Hello, Norah."  
  
"Dr. Koss." She smiled and nodded. "This is my husband, Greg Sanders."  
  
They shook hands and Greg suspiciously eyed the doctor.  
  
"How long have you been doing this, Doc?" Greg asked.  
  
"Three years," the doctor answered honestly.  
  
Greg looked shocked, even though Norah couldn't figure out why; Dr. Koss only looked to be about 30 tops.  
  
"Ready for the sonogram?"  
  
"Yes," Greg answered excitedly for a shaking Norah.  
  
"No," Norah said at the same time. "Doctor, why am I gaining so much weight so quickly? Is this normal?"  
  
"Everybody gains it at different rates. If anything's wrong with the baby, we'll find it right now." The doctor nodded.  
  
Norah winced as the doctor pulled out the things he needed. "This isn't going to hurt, right?"  
  
The doctor shook his head.  
  
A skeptical Norah grabbed Greg's hand.  
  
The doctor rubbed petroleum jelly-type stuff on her stomach.  
  
Norah squeezed Greg's hand. "It's cold."  
  
"Sorry, I should have warned you."  
  
Norah was so set on having pain that she didn't notice the doctor gasping.  
  
Greg's eyes widened and his heart sank into his stomach. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I think I found the reason you've gained so much weight." Dr. Koss grinned. "Two heartbeats."  
  
Norah opened one of her tightly shut eyes and looked at the doctor. "What exactly does that mean?"  
  
"Congratulations," Dr. Koss smiled, "You're having twins."  
  
-----  
  
"Maybe you're having twins, too, Lyd," Nick suggested. "You're looking rather heavy, too."  
  
Lydia glared at him.  
  
"Three little Abby's running around?" Greg grinned. He came alone, Norah was still mad at Nick and Lydia. If there's one thing she could do, it's hold a grudge. Plus she had to teach class, as usual.  
  
Nick and Lydia silently prayed it wasn't going to happen.  
  
"He said she's probably going to go into labor early because of all the weight so she's making me call the hospital and all that." Greg rolled his eyes. "I feel like an indentured slave."  
  
"Welcome to my world," Nick commented.  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Men should treat their pregnant wives like they are their masters."  
  
"Masters?" Nick squinted. "Are we genies now?"  
  
Greg's mouth curled into a smile as he mentally pictured Nick in a pink genie outfit.  
  
"You think that's amusing, Greg? YOU try carrying a baby in your stomach for nine months," Lydia growled.  
  
"I get it! That's why women are women. Men with wombs...women!" Greg smiled proudly and then went back to what Lydia said. "I respect them for carrying our children, but I'd respect them a lot more if they could endure the pain without complaining."  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes again. "Well, there's a lot that doesn't make sense to women about men. Like why they like football or other stupid contact sports like that."  
  
"Then why do you sit in here while Abby and me watch sports?" Nick countered.  
  
"To watch the guys in the tight pants." Greg laughed.  
  
"I do not!" Lydia screeched.  
  
Just then Abby and Matthew walked through the front door. "Hi, daddy. Hi, Greggy-o. Mommy! You're looking exceptionally fat today."  
  
"I love you, too, Abby."  
  
Matthew's eyes bulged. "She IS fat! Can I touch it?" His finger slowly moved closer to Lydia's belly.  
  
"No. Get away from her! Who invited you over here, anyway?" Nick asked.  
  
"Me," Abby smiled. "Here, this is from school." She tossed an envelope on the table and ran to her room, followed by Matthew.  
  
Lydia opened it. "It's her progress report." She skimmed it. "'Does not color in the lines?'"  
  
"What kind of crap is that?" Nick asked, grabbing the progress report from Lydia.  
  
Greg thought for a second. "I wonder how I passed kindergarten; I still can't color inside the lines."  
  
"Maybe it's metaphorical," Lydia suggested. "Maybe they're saying she's unique."  
  
"I don't think so. 'Only uses pink and purple crayons,'" Nick read aloud.  
  
"Maybe it's a metaphor saying she's selective," Greg mocked Lydia.  
  
Nick slapped the back of Greg's head and continued reading it. "This is crap. Complete and udder crap."  
  
Greg rubbed his head and pouted.  
  
Nick stopped. "Did that kid go into Abby's room?" His eyes suddenly filled with anger. Nick walked to Abby's room and put his ear to the door.  
  
Lydia and Greg followed him.  
  
Lydia tried to stop him. "This isn't fair to her, Nick. It's invasion of privacy."  
  
"Be quiet," he instructed.  
  
"What's going on?" Greg asked.  
  
Nick strained to hear them talking. "They're planning to braid your hair. Now they're talking about how you're a nerd."  
  
"Every time I set foot in this house I get insulted," Greg complained.  
  
Nick put his index finger to his mouth to tell Greg to be quiet.  
  
"What do you hear?" Greg whispered.  
  
"Nothing." Nick opened the door and pointed at the two kids sitting on Abby's bed kissing. "You, kid that's attacking my daughter, get out of my house!"  
  
Lydia pulled Nick into the living room. She shouted about how he needed to leave Abby and Matthew alone.  
  
"This is my cue to leave." Greg left quietly, letting them battle it out to the death.  
  
-----  
  
After a few months Norah forgave Lydia and Nick and soon they decided to go to Lamaze classes. They guys weren't too enthusiastic about it, but the girls were just happy to be around other pregnant women.  
  
During the session Lydia couldn't stop giggling and Norah and Greg whispered back and forth.  
  
"I'm the fattest one here," Norah moaned.  
  
Greg pointed to a guy who was staring at her stomach. "He's kind of fat."  
  
"That's so mean, Greg." She frowned. "But, I wish he'd stop staring at my stomach. He's making me self-conscious."  
  
"As if you weren't enough already," Greg commented.  
  
The man just wouldn't stop.  
  
Norah couldn't take it any more. "It's twins, bud. What's your excuse?"  
  
When Lydia heard this she started cracking up.  
  
Some lady came up to Lydia. "Ma'am, we're going to have to ask you to leave." She looked at Norah and Greg. "You two also. You're distracting the other parents."  
  
Lydia, Nick, and Greg got up off the floor. Norah rolled around for a while trying to get up while the other three watched. "Guys, help me!" She pouted. After a few dirty looks from the Lamaze instructor Greg picked her up from the floor.  
  
The left willingly.  
  
"You looked like a freaking turtle!" Greg laughed.  
  
Norah opened her mouth. "At least I don't shampoo my hair with -"  
  
Greg shoved his hand over her mouth.  
  
Lydia and Nick looked at Greg as they walked out of the building together.  
  
"Okay, I admit it! I use baby shampoo." He shot a glare at Norah before diverging from the other couple and heading toward his car.  
  
Norah struggled for five minutes until she finally climbed into the car. "I'll be sure to add Lamaze class at the YMCA to the list of things we've been kicked out of when we get home."  
  
"And this time, it was almost not our faults!"  
  
-----  
  
It was the dead of night. Norah was catching up on her sleep when she awoke with a sudden jerk. A contraction. "No, no. Not now." She looked at the clock. 1:24 a.m. "Give me two more hours of sleep." An hour went by and Norah had counted her contractions. She picked up the phone. "I think I'm having my baby."  
  
"How many months pregnant are you?" The lady on the other end asked.  
  
"Seven." Norah groaned as another shock of pain rushed through her abdomen.  
  
"Can you drive yourself to the hospital?"  
  
"I can barely get myself into bed. I've gained nearly 50 pounds." Norah started to cry.  
  
"How many have you had?" The lady asked.  
  
Norah thought for a second. "Six in the past hour."  
  
"Walk around a bit and tell me if they get any better. I'll stay on the line."  
  
Norah slid out of bed and walked down the hall and headed back. She felt another contraction. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" She walked back to the phone. "My water just broke. What should I do?" Norah was hysterical. "My husband's not here! I don't have anyway to get to the hospital."  
  
"Ma'am, calm down. Call your husband. If you can't find anyway to the hospital then call back and we'll find an ambulance for you." The woman hung up on her.  
  
Norah couldn't calm down. She picked up the phone again and dialed Greg's pager number. She hung up the phone and waited for him to call home.  
  
The phone rang.  
  
"What's the emergency?" Greg asked before Norah could even say 'hello.'  
  
Norah's heart started to slow down when she heard his voice. "Don't freak out, but I think I'm in labor."  
  
"Seriously?" He asked.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Call Lydia and I'll meet you guys at the hospital," Greg resolved.  
  
-----  
  
"What's with all the pregnant people around here lately?" Warrick asked. "I think you should issue condoms. Maybe everyone would miss less work because they wouldn't be having so many babies."  
  
Grissom shook his head and folded the newspaper he was reading. "Why are you still here, Greg?"  
  
"You didn't give me permission to leave," Greg told him.  
  
"You're wife's in labor, I'm not going to keep you here." Grissom looked at Greg who still didn't move. "Greg, go."  
  
"Thanks, Grissom." Greg ran out of the break room.  
  
Warrick shook his head.  
  
Greg jumped in his car and drove to the hospital. He rushed in and made a pit stop to ask directions before taking an elevator to the maternity ward. "I'm looking for Norah Sanders' room." Greg told a nurse.  
  
The nurse looked through her list. "With an 'S'?"  
  
"Yes! Yes! Sanders!"  
  
"Is that with two 'N's?"  
  
"S-A-N-D-E-R-S!"  
  
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to lower your voice. There's no need to be hostile."  
  
Greg tried to breathe "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there is a reason. My wife's in labor and I'm not there!"  
  
"Well, you can't be anyway. They're in the middle of delivery right now. You can have a seat and wait and I'll let you know when they're right away." The nurse smiled.  
  
Greg sighed and sat down.  
  
Abby and Lydia walked out of the elevator.  
  
"Hey!" Greg shouted to them.  
  
Lydia sat next to Greg and pulled Abby on her lap.  
  
"This is so 'citing!" Abby smiled. "I think you should get your hair done 'fore you meet your new babies." She reached for his hair.  
  
He moved his head away from her reach. "I don't think so." He looked at Lydia. "What happened?"  
  
"She went in about fifteen minutes ago."  
  
All three had fallen asleep but were awoken by the nurse from the desk. "You can see Norah now."  
  
"Forget Norah, I want to see the babies!" Abby shouted with excitement.  
  
"What do I have?" Greg asked the nurse.  
  
"Two daughters." She smiled.  
  
The three went into the room the nurse pointed out to be Norah's. They saw Norah lying weakly on the hospital bed.  
  
"Hey," Greg greeted her.  
  
Norah mumbled something.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Lydia asked.  
  
Norah shrugged. After a few minutes of silence Norah opened her mouth. "Where are my babies? I want to see them."  
  
"Me, too!" Abby jumped up and down.  
  
Greg left the room to ask the nurse about the babies. When he came back he grinned. "They're coming."  
  
Norah pushed herself up and leaned against the drab, white pillow.  
  
Within a few minutes the twins were in their parents' arms. Abby crawled up on the bed next to Norah and pet one of the babies' cheeks gently.  
  
"Mrs. and Mr. Sanders?" Another nurse entered the room. "Do you have names picked for your daughters yet so we can put them on the birth certificates?"  
  
Greg and Norah looked at each other.  
  
"Melody Marie," Greg said.  
  
"Lucy Anne," Norah said at the same time. 


	12. Another Little Stanger

Chapter Twelve: Another Little Stranger  
  
When the hospital finally let the twins go, things just got more chaotic. Everyone wanted to see them and they were traveling around like some circus show.  
  
Lydia was the one driving, too. Norah ached all the time and Greg was always so tired from his 5 a.m. wake-up call, everyone else called 'the twins.' This didn't help Lydia's stress level, which didn't help her pregnancy. Her doctor told her repeatedly to calm down and rest, but she couldn't just say 'no' to her niece- and nephew-in-law.  
  
One afternoon she drove Norah, Greg, Lucy, and Melody home after the twins met their grandparents and Aunt Mandy at the airport. All of which were staying at a hotel not too far from Greg and Norah's house.  
  
Lydia came home to find Nick eating junk food and laying on the couch. "Can you hand me the remote?"  
  
"Hello to you, too." Lydia said walking past him and into the kitchen. She tossed her keys on the counter and sat on a chair.  
  
Nick walked into the kitchen at the exact moment Lydia's water broke.  
  
"Call the doctor's," Lydia commanded.  
  
Nick picked up the phone and called the hospital.  
  
Lydia walked to Abby's bedroom. "Abby, we have to go to the hospital."  
  
Abby looked up from her crayon drawing. "Why?"  
  
"The baby's coming."  
  
"It can't come! I'm not pretty yet!" Abby jumped off her bed and walked to her closet. "Hmm ... do you think this is too casual for the baby?" She held up a purple shirt and matching floral-print stretch pants.  
  
"Abby, you look fine. We HAVE to go!" Lydia said.  
  
"You're no help!" She shut the door in her mother's face and proceeded to try everything on in her closet on.  
  
"Nick, make her hurry up! This baby isn't going to wait for her fashion show!"  
  
Nick walked into Abby's room and picked her up. He threw the 5-year-old, who was now wearing a pink princess dress, over his shoulder and followed Lydia outside.  
  
-----  
  
After the long labor the baby, a boy, was finally born. They named him Jonathon.  
  
"Can I see my brother?" Abby asked Nick.  
  
He held her up to the nursery window and pointed to the newest addition to the Stokes family.  
  
Abby scrunched up her nose. "He's ugly! Send him back!"  
  
"Shh, Abby." Nick placed her on the ground again.  
  
"Send him back! Send him back!" She marched in a circle, chanting.  
  
Nick picked her back up, after nursed and doctors started staring. He placed her on his hip and covered his mouth. How can such a little person have such a big mouth? He carried her into her mother's hospital room.  
  
"I don't want that brother," Abby told Lydia and Nick. "Can't we take him back and exchange him for a cuter baby?"  
  
"That's not how things work, Abby," Lydia told her.  
  
Abby shook her head. "Oh, mommy, you're so peas-and-misses."  
  
"Pessimistic, honey," Nick corrected.  
  
"That's what I said, daddy." Abby rolled her eyes. Someone knocked on the door and Abby opened it.  
  
Norah and Greg came in.  
  
"We just came to say congrats." Norah smiled warmly.  
  
Greg handed Lydia the flowers he had carried in.  
  
"Where are the twins?" Nick asked.  
  
"With Cath and Linds," Norah responded. "In the car. They send their love."  
  
Only a couple of minutes later they were gone as quick as they had come.  
  
-----  
  
Two weeks later and the women's wishes had come true. Their husbands decided to be good dads and wait on them and their children hand-and-foot. Water, food, diapers, pads, everything.  
  
They thought it would be easy, but taking care of two grown women and three tiny babies wasn't all fun and games.  
  
"We're going to work, guys." The tired men would say every night as the women laid on Norah and Greg's couch.  
  
"Bye," They'd reply in unison. As soon as they left the women would laugh, even though they swore they were grateful.  
  
"Man, do you KNOW how long it's been since I've been laid?" Greg whined.  
  
"Do you know how long it's been since I've slept?" Nick groaned.  
  
Warrick laughed. "It's so good to be me."  
  
Nick and Greg rolled their eyes and walked out of the break room. Greg headed to his lab, Nick to an autopsy he was meeting Sara at in five minutes.  
  
Greg plopped on his chair and turned on his stereo. He felt something stiff in the pocket of his jeans. As he pulled the paper out, he remembered that Nick and him were supposed to get diapers for Jonathon, Melody, and Lucy. "Shoot." He knew he would get it if he didn't do it.  
  
He lazily walked out of his lab and walked down the hall back to the break room. "Hey, Warrick?"  
  
Warrick looked up from the magazine he was reading. "What's up?"  
  
"Can you do me a favor?" Greg asked.  
  
"Man..." He didn't want to be mean but he heard about the "favors" that he made pretty much everyone else in the building do.  
  
"Please," Greg begged.  
  
Warrick shook his head. "I'm busy."  
  
"You look really busy." Greg glared him and nodded at his magazine.  
  
Warrick gave in. "What do you need?"  
  
"Diapers."  
  
"Oh, come on!" Warrick moaned.  
  
"Please, man?" Greg pouted.  
  
Warrick rolled his eyes. "Fine. But never make that face again."  
  
Greg smiled and handed him a twenty-dollar bill from his wallet.  
  
Greg grinned to himself as he walked back to his lab. 'I'm getting good at his manipulating thing. I can't wait 'till the twins can walk! Then I could get them to do the dishes and clean the bathroom. Score!' 


	13. Grocery Shopping

Chapter Thirteen: Grocery Shopping  
  
Two years had gone by and things had gone somewhat smoothly. The guys, at times, regretted they had ever had such obnoxious children. The ladies, at times, regretted they had married such immature guys.  
  
The twins and Jonathon had hit their "terrible twos," and Abby had grown into a bratty seven-year-old. It seemed like both families were shopping more than they had ever before.  
  
"I'm going to run some errands with the twins, Greg." Norah grabbed her daughters, one in each arm, and headed to the door.  
  
"I can take them, what do you need to do?" Greg asked.  
  
"Grocery shopping," Norah answered.  
  
"Again?"  
  
Norah nodded. It was the third time this week.  
  
"I'll go, why don't you get Lydia to get a pedicure with you?"  
  
Norah smiled. "Are you sure?"  
  
Greg nodded and took Melody and Lucy from their mother. 'How bad could two little girls in a grocery store be?' Greg questioned himself mentally.  
  
-----  
  
Greg scanned the shopping list Norah and Lydia had compiled. "Okay. Let's do this swiftly and preciously." He looked at the three little kids in the cart he was pushing, Abby on the rack on the end.  
  
Nick took the shopping list from him. "What kind of guy offers to do the shopping?"  
  
"A nice husband." Greg smiled proudly.  
  
"A loser, you mean." Nick rolled his eyes and folded the list in half. "Okay, you take this half and I'll take this one. It'll go faster that way."  
  
Greg looked at his list. "Hey! You gave me the part with the tampons on purpose!" But Nick was already off with Abby and Jonathon in his cart. "This is war."  
  
"War!" Melody shouted.  
  
"Right on, Melly." Greg said pushing the cart down the produce aisle. "Kiwi? Who eats kiwis?"  
  
"Mommy," Lucy answered.  
  
Greg shrugged and put a few in a bag.  
  
Melody started singing a song she had heard on the radio on the way to the store.  
  
Abby, who was holding Jonathon's hand, ran up to Greg. "Hey, Greg? Can I take the twins to the make-up aisle? You'll have more room in your cart." She smiled sweetly.  
  
"Promise me you'll watch them."  
  
"Cross my heart and hope to die." Abby grinned.  
  
Greg lifted Lucy and Melody out of the cart and put them on the ground. They held hands and followed Abby and Jonathon.  
  
Greg continued looking around when he came across Nick looking at the broccoli. He started throwing grapes at his head, ducking behind a cart of strawberries when Nick spun around to see who was hitting him with fruit.  
  
"Greg, I know that's you," Nick shouted.  
  
Greg surrendered and popped up from his shield of strawberries and Nick pelted him with the little red fruits. Before the fruit war got too big, some young teenager was sent too tell them to stop it.  
  
The two grown men walked away and toward the hair products.  
  
"Peach shampoo?" Nick shook his head. "Why can't they just use unscented?"  
  
Greg blushed. "I know, man. Jeez," he said warily.  
  
"Why are you blushing?" Nick laughed. "You use this shampoo don't you?"  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Liar."  
  
Greg got redder. "Only when I run out. Let it slip and I'll tell Lydia who taught John the S-word."  
  
"Okay, okay. Chill out." Nick rolled his eyes. "Is that why Norah always calls you Peaches?" He laughed.  
  
"No! They're my favorite fruit," Greg lied.  
  
"Whatever, man." Nick chuckled.  
  
Greg pointed to the aisle sign. "Hey, cosmetics. We could pick up the kids." He pushed his cart down Aisle 3 and scooped up the twins.  
  
"I was going to do make-overs on them!" Abby whined.  
  
Greg squinted at Abby. "What's wrong with her? She looks different."  
  
"Abby, did you get into those samples?" Nick asked.  
  
"They're free, dad!" Abby said as Nick looked around.  
  
"Where's Jonathon?" Nick asked.  
  
Abby shrugged. "He said something about peas and left."  
  
Melody and Lucy nodded.  
  
"We're going to find John, you guys find the rest of the stuff. We'll meet up with you." Nick said as he pushed the cart frantically down the aisle.  
  
Greg shrugged and looked down at the list. He groaned as he saw the word 'tampons' scrolled across the page. Was there a reason it was the biggest word on the list? "I swear! Norah does NOT have her period. A man tries to do something nice and his wife just humiliates him. Always!"  
  
Melody and Lucy giggled.  
  
Greg stopped the cart at the end of Aisle 4: feminine products. He looked around and started running down the aisle. He grabbed for the tampons and dove for the ground. He rolled and turned around. He ran back with his eyes closed. He tossed the tampons in what he thought was his cart.  
  
He started to push the cart away when something was missing. "Oh my God! Oh my God! My children were stolen! Someone help! Someone stole my children!" He suddenly stopped screaming when something hit him in the head. He turned around to find an angry old lady who started beating him with her purse.  
  
"Get away from my cart!"  
  
"Ow! Ow! Okay, sorry!" Greg took the tampons out and looked to the cart in front of the old lady's.  
  
The twins were laughing at him.  
  
"You're so funny, daddy!" Lucy giggled.  
  
Greg put the tampons in the cart and started rolling away as fast as he could go.  
  
In the frozen section of the store, Nick and Abby were having their own crisis.  
  
"I hate to admit it, but I think it's time to call mom," Abby suggested.  
  
Nick shook his head. "We can't! She'll kill us."  
  
"Dad, we have to."  
  
Nick picked up his cell phone and dialed Lydia's cell.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"I lost Jonathon," Nick said quickly.  
  
"Look in the frozen foods," Lydia told him. "He loves the freezers."  
  
Nick looked around. "I am at the frozen foods and I don't see him anywhere."  
  
Abby tugged on his shirt. "Dad?"  
  
Nick turned to find Jonathon sitting in the cheese display of the diary section. He was bobbing up and down eating chocolate pudding by the handful.  
  
"We found him." Nick hung up quickly and grabbed his son from the cheese. After putting him in the cart he pushed it down the main aisle looking for Greg and the twins.  
  
Aisle 8: Condiments. Nick found Greg and the girls dueling with giant loafs of French bread. "What's with the diapers?" He pointed to Greg's head.  
  
"You mean our helmets?" Greg patted his. "You can never be too safe."  
  
While Greg was distracted, Lucy and Melody decided to gang up on their dad. They charged toward his knees, armed with their mock-swords. They giggled as he dramatically fell down, grabbing a bottle of ketchup and squirting it all over himself and everyone else in the aisle.  
  
Greg moaned. "Oh no! I'm bleeding!" He closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out.  
  
Melody and Lucy laughed even harder.  
  
"Man, you know you have to pay for that stuff, right?" Nick said.  
  
"We're just having fun. I'll just stuff the bread back into the bags and -"  
  
"Greg, you can't do that." Nick rolled his eyes.  
  
Greg cocked an eyebrow. "Why not?"  
  
"Because it's sick and -"  
  
Greg interrupted him. "Nick?"  
  
"Don't cut me -"  
  
"Our children are gone," Greg shouted.  
  
Nick pulled Greg off the ground and started following the giggles he heard until he looked up to find Lucy, Melody, and Jonathon climbing a mountain of twelve-packs of soda.  
  
Abby stood at the bottom of the display. This was a new record; for the first time in her life, Abby was innocent. "I tried to stop them, dad. Do you know how hard it is to stop three two-year olds from climbing?" Abby shook her head.  
  
A crowd had started to form behind Abby and the manager had gotten a ladder to get the babies down, although it wasn't exactly effective.  
  
"Lucy and Melody! Don't move! Daddy's coming!" Greg started to climb the soda.  
  
Nick shook his head.  
  
After a while the manager had gotten the children, including Greg, off the Coke cans and into his office.  
  
-----  
  
Norah and Lydia rushed through the doors of the manager's office.  
  
"Mommy!" Melody ran to Norah and she picked her up.  
  
Norah and Lydia looked at Nick and a ketchup-stained Greg with embarrassment and shame.  
  
Greg tried to lighten the mood. "I like your nail color Lydia."  
  
She wiggled her bare toes, the cotton from the pedicure still between them.  
  
The manager cleared his throat and the girls looked at him. "We've made a list of damages your husbands and children made today. One pound of grapes, two pounds of strawberries, ten free samples of eye shadow. Two packages of pudding, eight bricks of cheese, three loafs of bread, one jumbo bottle of ketchup. A package of diapers, and three twelve-packs of soda that your husband wrongly thought would not topple over if he stood of them." He looked at Norah and then back at Lydia.  
  
"How much do we owe you?" Norah asked the manager.  
  
"$86.02," he replied.  
  
Her jaw dropped. "Are you sure you added that right?"  
  
The manager nodded.  
  
She opened her purse, Lydia did the same.  
  
"I feel like I'm bailing my husband out of jail," Lydia said. She wrote a check for $43.01 and gave it to him.  
  
Norah pulled out cash and gave it to him. "Our four-year old husbands? I do, too." She grabbed the twins and left the store.  
  
Lydia followed her, carrying Jonathon and holding Abby's hand.  
  
The men followed with their heads hung.  
  
"Where am I going to shop now?" Lydia shook her head and climbed into her car.  
  
Nick got into his Tahoe and drove away.  
  
"I'm sorry, Norah," Greg looked at her after buckling the twins into their car seats and getting into his car.  
  
Norah turned toward the window. "If you want to be taken seriously, maybe you should take the diaper off your head." 


	14. The Fireworks

Chapter Fourteen: The Fireworks  
  
Ten years passed. Lucy, Melody and Jonathon's first day of preschool, first grade, second grade, now they were in fifth grade. Abby was in high school, a sophomore.  
  
Lucy was the smartest in her class. She was offered a chance to skip a grade, but opted out to stay with her sister, even though she was more interested with reading than music, unlike her sister. Everyone said she looked more like Greg, although she couldn't see the compliment in that. She did inherit her mother's dark hair and green eyes, however.  
  
Lucy's fraternal twin, Melody, had also gotten her eyes and hair from her mother, but Nick said she looked just like a miniature Norah anyway. She was a tomboy; in fact, all her friends were guys. And don't let that "twins are best friends" cliché Mary-Kate and Ashley force into everyone's mind fool you. Melody didn't like hanging out with her twin sister. She started a punk band in fourth grade with her best friend, Ian. She did the vocals while, Ian was on the drums, and her other friend, Laden on bass.  
  
Jonathon had also joined the band. He begged his parents in third grade for an electric guitar. After a month of no, he finally turned to Lucy who made a list of reasons why it'd be good for him. An impressed Lydia bought it for him along with lessons. As for appearance, he was pretty cute and he definitely worked the "bad boy" look he was looking for. All the fifth grade girls swooned as he walked by.  
  
Abby was preppy. Only brand names for her, please. She was a cheerleader, her boyfriend? The star quarterback, Matthew. They got into a lot of trouble together, but Abby didn't care. She thought it helped her image. Her hair had turned red over the years and her eyes got bluer.  
  
Norah had finally gained respect from her colleagues after ten years of working with them. Nick got something of a promotion. Greg was happy with his family. And Lydia was working on her third book. Her first two were both best sellers.  
  
So, where does that leave our story? In the car, America's favorite form of transportation -- Nick driving, Lydia annoyed by her family, Abby embarrassed by her family and Jonathon worrying about missing practice at Melody's.  
  
Silence filled the car, as usual.  
  
"Are we still going out for dinner tonight?" Nick asked, trying to strike up a conversation.  
  
"No," Lydia snapped. "I'm sick of eating out."  
  
"We'll it'd help if someone in our family knew how to cook." Nick said.  
  
"Are you suggesting I should start cooking?" Lydia growled.  
  
"No, I don't want to set our NEW house on fire."  
  
"You're such an ass." Lydia said.  
  
Nick rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not PMSing."  
  
"PMS? Ha. I wish." Lydia took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."  
  
Abby choked on the water she had just swallowed. "What?"  
  
Jonathon made a disgusted face. "I don't want to be the middle child!"  
  
"Oh, this is great! As if one sibling wasn't enough! And I'll be 15 years older than them! This is just dandy, guys. Thanks for ruining my LIFE!" Abby pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"I don't want to be the middle child, they always show them on TV as the kids that don't get attention and do all the chores." Jonathon frowned.  
  
Lydia frowned, too. "Well, that's too bad, guys. Too late now."  
  
"We could always put John up for adoption," Abby suggested.  
  
"The good, musically-inclined son or the bratty, preppy daughter? Gee I wonder who the 'rents will choose." Jonathon rolled his eyes.  
  
Nick pulled into Norah and Greg's driveway. "No one's being put up for adoption."  
  
Jonathon crawled out of the Tahoe and grabbed his guitar from the backseat. "I still don't want to be the middle child!"  
  
"The comment box was on your seat - oh, it's not there. Guess that means we don't want your opinion." Nick said.  
  
John rolled his eyes again and shut the door. He sprinted up the steps of the Sanders' house. He let himself in. Norah lifted her head off Greg's leg, who was sitting on the couch.  
  
"Hey, John," Norah greeted. "They're waiting for you in the attic."  
  
"Don't you knock?" Greg asked.  
  
Norah returned her head to its rightful spot on Greg's leg. "He's blood."  
  
"Not mine."  
  
Jonathon came out of the kitchen with a blueberry pancake folded in his hand. "Thanks," he mumbled with his mouth full of pancake. He ran up the stairs.  
  
"That was my pancake, man," Greg whined. "They're always over here eating our food. They owe us, like, $2,000 in groceries."  
  
"They're family," Norah reminded him.  
  
"They're only mine through marriage."  
  
"Stop complaining," She demanded. They listened to the band playing from the attic. "Do you actually know the band's name?"  
  
"I've always assumed it's 'The Band.' That's the only thing they call it." Greg shrugged.  
  
"I thought Mel was the creative daughter."  
  
About three minutes later Nick, Lydia and Abby came into the house.  
  
"Umm...What's with the gap?" Greg asked.  
  
Lydia and Nick looked at each other.  
  
"We were settling something," Nick said.  
  
Norah looked up at Greg with her eyebrows raised.  
  
"About my PSTA scores." Abby rolled her eyes.  
  
Norah's ears perked up. "What do you think you want to be?"  
  
"A showgirl."  
  
"What?" Nick shouted.  
  
Greg laughed. "You could get tips from Catherine."  
  
Nick gaped at Greg and then turned his head to Abby.  
  
"Well, you have the grades of the average stripper anyway," Lydia commented.  
  
"You're such a bitch," Abby spat.  
  
Norah and Greg's mouths fell open.  
  
"Abby Hope!" Nick and Lydia screamed at the same time.  
  
"Actually, I want to be a fashion designer or, hey, maybe a prostitute," Abby snarled. "Then I could get tips from you guys. You're really good at the sex thing. The proof will be here in nine months!"  
  
Norah and Greg looked at each other.  
  
"Well, I'm happy." He kneeled down to Lydia's stomach. "There's hope for you, yet."  
  
Abby rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, hey!" Greg shouted after her. "That's my food! Man, I need a padlock for my fridge."  
  
Norah hit Greg in the stomach to shut him up. "I know you guys are not pregnant again and you didn't even tell us first - again."  
  
"We were going to later. I just told Nick and the kids on the way over here," Lydia summed up the day.  
  
Abby came out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs to the attic eating chips.  
  
"Do you not feed your children?" Greg asked.  
  
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  
  
"I'll get it." Greg ran to the door, leaving Norah's head without its pillow. He looked out the window and quickly went outside to talk to whoever was at the door.  
  
Norah watched Lydia and Nick for possible clues, as she sat up from her reclining position on the couch, but they looked even more lost than she did. She crept to the window of the door and peered out of it. She watched Greg, Mandy, and a man talk in low voices. She couldn't tell much about the man, since his back was to her, only that he had gray and thinning hair. Norah ran back to the couch and sat down, as if she hadn't been watching them, as they walked through the door.  
  
Nick looked at the man and knew who it was right away.  
  
"Norah, do you remember our honeymoon?" Greg asked.  
  
"Yeah, well...the morning sickness, anyway." Norah said, looking at everyone in front of her. "What's this about? You guys aren't committing me to a mental hospital or something, are you?"  
  
Greg shook his head. "Norah...this is your father."  
  
Norah said nothing. She watching his green eyes stare at her. She felt sick to her stomach. Hate built up inside of her, but she tried to be nice. "Nice to MEET you." Okay, she TRIED.  
  
"Look, I know you're mad. And you should be. But, let me explain," the stranger said. "Your mother and I were dating mostly in spite of her family. Your grandmother hated me and your mother was about as rebellious as Mandy tells me you are now. When you were born your mother didn't want to tell everyone that I was the father and I wanted your grandparents to love you, for who you are, not who your dad was. So I left, it was a mutual thing. Please understand that."  
  
Norah was still kind of mad, but her anger had died down a bit. "I understand. But, why are you here now?"  
  
"Mandy told me you were married now and you told your husband you'd like to meet me." Her father half-smiled. "Plus, I heard I had twelve-year-old granddaughters."  
  
Norah smiled, too. "Yeah, why don't you come with me. I'll go get them."  
  
They walked to the attic, followed by Mandy, Greg, Lydia, and Nick. The band stopped playing as they saw their audience come in, in addition to Abby and Lucy who were listening to them already.  
  
"Melody, Lucy - this is your grandfather," Norah announced.  
  
Melody looked over her microphone. "This is only the first time we've met him."  
  
Norah smiled. "Mine, too."  
  
The end. 


End file.
